Marijuana clone plants are displayed under a light at a medical marijuana cooperative in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren, Associated Press file)

Sentencing hearing delayed for 80-year-old marijuana dealer

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts has delayed the sentencing of an 80-year-old man who admitted running a sprawling multistate marijuana-dealing operation.

Marshall Dion was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, but U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston put off the hearing until March 10 because she wanted prosecutors and Dion’s lawyer to submit sentencing briefs.

Dion’s lawyer, Hank Brennan, says the judge wants to know why the proposed sentence in Dion’s plea agreement is up to seven years in prison when federal sentencing guidelines call for 30 years.

A stop for speeding in 2013 in Junction City, Kansas, led authorities to Massachusetts and Arizona, where they found about $15 million in cash, nearly 400 pounds of marijuana and ledgers detailing drug deals going back to 1992.