KALAMAZOO, MI (WTVB) – One of the four defendants in the case of a Branch County marijuana grow operation was sentenced Monday in Kalamazoo County as part of a plea agreement.
According to court records, Blake Staley of Coldwater was ordered to serve 18 months of probation and pay over $800 in fines and costs after entering guilty pleas to two counts of delivery and manufacturing a controlled substance.
Staley was also given a one day jail sentence which was credited.
In exchange for his guilty pleas, special prosecutor Cory Johnson dismissed three felony firearm counts and a charge of possession of a dangerous weapon against Staley.
The other three persons involved in the case, Evon Staley, Stephanie Staley, and Patricia Moses, also entered into plea agreements. All three women entered pleas to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly person-illegal occupation.
Evon Staley entered a no contest plea while Stephanie Staley and Moses entered guilty pleas. The rest of the charges against the three women were dismissed in exchange for the pleas.
Evon Staley lost her job in the Branch County Prosecutors office in November 2016 because of the case.
She later filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Branch County and Prosecutor Ralph Kimble which is scheduled to go to trial next January. Kimble has denied the accusations in the suit.
