KEY FIGURES IN MAJOR DRUG TRAFFICKING RING PLEAD GUILTY

Seven defendants in a major multi-state drug ring entered guilty pleas in federal court in Boise this week. They are among 14 people charged in a decades-long conspiracy that had its origins in southern California and Oregon, but later spread across the United States. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, some of the defendants were involved with importing marijuana from Colombia, South America and Mexico. The group later became involved in a series of large marijuana growing operations, both indoors and on public lands. The organization is thought to have reaped more than $20 million in drug proceeds over a 30 year period.

Entering guilty pleas were:

Kent Allen Jones, 52, of Vancouver, Washington. Jones pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering. He - and the others who pled guilty to the same charges - face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years on the conspiracy count, and a maximum of 20 years for money laundering, plus fines of up to $4 million and forfeiture of drug proceeds.

Harold ("Hal") Carl Ballenger, 55, of Bend, Oregon, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and a forfeiture count.

Mark William Pursley, 33, of Vancouver, Washington, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and a forfeiture count.

Damon John Marsh, 38, of Portland, Oregon, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Gerald Francis McDonald, 56, of Costa Mesa, California, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Mark M. Alders, 54, of Lakeside, Oregon, pled guilty to money laundering. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Dale Eugene Barker, 56, of Evergreen, Colorado, pled guilty to a different money laundering charge. He faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Sentencing for the 7 has been set for various dates in March.

Still pending are charges against Mark Daniel Kitzman, 50, of Lake Oswego, Oregon; Dennis Bruce Hammons, 60, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon; Robert David Long, 53, of Eugene, Oregon; Jerod Lee Keyser, 32, of Priest River, Idaho; Forrest McDonald, 28, California; Lawrence Weitzman, 63, of Placerville, California, and Gregory Frank Sperow, 56, currently a federal prison inmate.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of more than $20 million in proceeds from drug trafficking, including $20 million in cash, a variety of business interests, airplanes, boats, vehicles, and real property in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Hawaii and Colorado.

The case is being handled by the District of Idaho because it stemmed from the case of a major drug trafficker, Leland Lang of Clearwater, Idaho, who was successfully prosecuted in Idaho several years ago. According to the indictment, the Jones organization supplied Lang with large quantities of drugs.

Agencies involved in the investigation include the IRS, DEA, Douglas County Interagency Narcotics Team, Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon State Police, Westside Interagency Narcotics Team, Pacific Northwest Fugitive Task Force and Southwest Washington Regional SWAT Team.