An Upper Nazareth Township man was sentenced to three years of probation after police found thousands of dollars worth of marijuana and a cache of weapons in his home.
Police seized an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, two shotguns, a handgun and four other long guns when they raided Robert Blacie's home in the 400 block of East Beil Avenue.
These 40 marijuana plants were seized from an Upper Nazareth home.
During the Sept. 2 raid they found 40 marijuana plants in the basement that could have yielded up to 80 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $120,000.
Another five pounds of packaged marijuana found in the home was worth about $8,000 on the street, police said. Blacie also had cups with marijuana seeds growing in his bedroom.
Upper Nazareth police called the bust one of the largest marijuana sting operations in township history. It resulted from a monthlong investigation.
Defense attorney Steven Mills said Blacie has complied with regulations while on bail, completed a treatment program and has strong family support. He turned over glowing letters from Blacie's family and friends to the judge.
"Basically he did everything in his power to mitigate this situation," Mills said.
"I just want to apologize for being here today," said Blacie, who works for an installer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment. "I put my family under a tremendous amount of stress for the past couple months."
Northampton County Senior Judge Leonard Zito cited Blacie's background and letters of support as reasons to keep him out of prison.
Blacie pleaded guilty to one felony count of marijuana possession.
Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.