Colorado pilot pleads guilty to flying marijuana into Kansas

A Colorado man landed himself in trouble last summer when he flew his plane to a Kansas airport with 207 pounds of marijuana on board.

On Tuesday, 59-year-old Kenneth E. Weaver of Denver pleaded guilty in federal court in Wichita to a charge of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Weaver has been in custody since July 11, 2014, when he landed his twin-engine jet plane at the airport in Iola, Kan., with what was described in court documents as “medical grade” marijuana.

The plane, a 1979 Israel Aircraft Industries Model 1124, and more than $457,000 in cash were seized by federal authorities after Weaver was arrested.

The plea agreement calls for Weaver to serve a year in prison. Because he had already served that amount of time since his arrest, he was allowed to post bond pending his sentencing in October.

Tony Rizzo, trizzo@kcstar.com

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Colorado pilot pleads guilty to flying marijuana into Kansas."