(AP) -- A former South Carolina trooper has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a federal marijuana case.
A federal judge on Monday also ordered 30-year-old Kurt Steffen of Summerville to be supervised for four years after he's released.
The Highway Patrol says Steffen was a trooper from 2007 until he resigned in 2009.
During that time, prosecutors say Steffen was part of a large-scale indoor marijuana growing operation, growing the drugs on a five-acre tract of land in Ridgeville starting in 2008. In January 2010, deputies found over 300 marijuana plants there.
In February, Steffen pleaded guilty to manufacturing and possessing with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana plants. As part of his plea, Steffen acknowledged transporting the drugs in his Highway Patrol vehicle.
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