As an engineer, 70-year-old Paul Koren spent his entire career solving problems.

So, two years ago, when his nephew's body was attacked by a degenerative muscle disease and there was little medical professionals could do to ease his pain, Koren suspected medical marijuana could help. So the suburban Cincinnati man grew some. And gave it to him for his pain.

His nephew gained weight and started sleeping better, Koren said. It felt good to bring him comfort.

Soon after, a friend in Dallas was diagnosed with cancer. Koren decided since he could help, he would. Word spread. Friends asked for friends.

Koren always said yes. A few plants grew to 17 beds in his Miami Township basement.

He estimates he has helped 20 people since he first helped his nephew.

But thanks to a series of bizarre events that involves a home invasion robbery, an intuitive sheriff's deputy and a suspected dead man who wasn't, Koren is facing a prison sentence for growing marijuana and trafficking in drugs.

With snowy white hair, hazel eyes and a portly frame, Koren is a part Santa Claus, part Breaking Bad's Walter White, a drug dealer with good intentions.

"I'm not a drug lord," he said. "I am an advocate for the positive benefits and use of marijuana. I help sick people."

He has never been a man in trouble with the law before.

Koren is facing up to six years in prison, but he's hoping for a plea deal that avoids time behind bars. He was supposed to be in court Friday, but the case was delayed until April 30.

Koren's attorney, Bill Gallagher, said "Prison is for people who hurt people and we fear will hurt people again. Paul does not fit in that category."

No authorities agreed to talk for this story. Police and prosecutors say they can't because the case hasn't been resolved. But a sheriff's office investigative report, along with the arrests of two men for robbery, backs up what Koren says happened to him early the morning of Jan. 7 when armed intruders burst into his bedroom.

Home invaders: 'Where is the dope?'

That morning, Koren says he was lying in bed, looking up the latest Stephen Colbert monologue on YouTube. His three cats were roaming the house. The hall light was on. And the side door was unlocked, as it almost always was.

Koren heard noises in the hallway and then two people barged into his bedroom. He could tell there was a third person and possibly a fourth in the house, but things unfolded so quickly, that even in hindsight he can't be sure.

At least one of them wielded a small bronze gun of some sort.

"Where are the guns?"

"Where is the money?"

"Where is the dope?" The men demanded.

The guys were small, maybe even teenagers, Koren thought.

And while there may have been a basement full of marijuana plants, there was no money and no guns. The men didn't like that though and began tearing the house apart.

They tied Koren up. They covered his face and body with a towel as a way to pin him down.And then they pistol-whipped him.

Koren says, that at one point, his attackers tried to strangle him with some sort of string and at another they tried to smother him with a pillow.

The intruders sliced up Koren's marijuana plants, shoving the stolen cache of drugs in garbage bags, even using Koren's own luggage that was stored nearby.

They had parked just down the road, on vacant property. But the owners of the vacant land live nearby and the car seemed suspicious, so they called police.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy David Hambaugh responded.

He found Koren outside. The robbers, Koren said, were still inside. As the deputy called for backup, a group of men fled the house.

Koren emerged, scratched and bruised.

He told the deputies what happened.

As authorities helped Koren, they also uncovered the pot farm in his Miami Township basement.

Korenrealized he was about be to busted.

He refused to give his name and spoke frankly. He said he was the victim, not a suspect. And, he told deputies, "marijuana is a plant and should be legal."

Koren finally consented to a search of the home, where for the first time, he saw his mini marijuana farm had been destroyed. To him, it looked like there was nothing left.

Drug officers didn't agree. They found 36 marijuana plants weighing 45 pounds and one and a half ounces of psychedelic mushrooms in Koren's basement. Koren says he doesn't know how the mushrooms got there, but friends help him with his operation and he suspects that's where they came from.

Police now saw this as a drug case. Three agents from the county's drug task force came out to investigate.

A body found in the freezer

During a search of the home, Deputy Paul Fangman spotted a chest-type freezer in the basement. Fangman suspected it was filled with marijuana as a way to keep it fresh.

What he found instead was a body, lying face up on the floor of the freezer.

Fangman thought the man was dead.

Kyle Hughes, one of the intruders, it turned out, had been unable to escape the house when police arrived, so he climbed in the freezer to hide. And he got stuck and suffered heat stroke and lack of oxygen.

Just as things were unfolding, Hughes' eyes popped open, scaring everyone in the room.

He wasn't dead.

He had just passed out. After being treated at the hospital, he was arrested and is now facing burglary. kidnapping and felonious assault charges. His case is pending.

Another suspect was arrested in Kentucky and is awaiting extradition.

A quiet life of fixing things

Koren has been free on bond since his arrest, but he hasn't been home. He's afraid. Of his house, of his future.

This is something that happens to other people.

Koren went to St. Xavier High School, graduated from the University of Cincinnati. He became an engineer and worked for some of the largest chemical companies in the world, developing products like tabulating machines, packaging lines and specialty test tubes.

He married, divorced and had three children, who are now grown. And he's lived in the same three-bedroom house, tucked away on a wooded lot, for more than 30 years.

He told officers he lives on Social Security and his 401K. He doesn't need money. He never sold the drugs.

A search warrant of Koren’s home shows the drug agents found grow lights, filters, fans, power converters and a vacuum sealer.

And the marijuana and mushrooms.

It’s the kind of evidence that sends bad guys to prison. Maybe for six years.

But Koren insists he isn’t a bad guy.

A man who used Koren’s marijuana to ease back pain so bad he couldn’t walk says Koren isn’t a bad guy.

A grandma who used Koren’s marijuana to help her sleep when she couldn’t anymore says Koren isn’t a bad guy.

Friday, that determination will be up to a judge.

More:Where are Ohio's medical marijuana dispensaries? Here's a map.