'Godfather of Grass' pleads guilty to drug charge

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The man known as the "Godfather of Grass" is facing prison time after admitting his involvement in a marijuana operation in Kentucky nearly a decade ago.

Federal prosecutors say John Robert Boone pleaded guilty this week to a single count of conspiring to grow and distribute more than 1,000 marijuana plants at an operation near Springfield, Kentucky.

Boone fled to Canada after a 2008 indictment on marijuana charges in Kentucky, and he spent eight years on the run until his capture in 2016.

Prosecutors say Boone faces up to five years in prison at his March 15 sentencing.

Boone was convicted in the 1980s and spent a decade in prison for what prosecutors had called a massive marijuana syndicate with farms in multiple states.