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SALT LAKE CITY — Federal agents believe they have broken a drug trafficking ring that brought large amounts of marijuana from California to Utah the past five years.

Using marijuana cultivated or bought from other growers in California, the group drove about 100 pounds of the drug into the state every month, according to an indictment in U.S. District Court.

One of the defendants, Collin Drexel Armstrong, 29, bought 300 acres of land in Laytonville, California, to grow marijuana, court filings say. He is in custody in California.

Also named in the indictment are Salt Lake residents Zachary Fitts Hoppe, 31; Robert Daniel Benson, 54; Trinity Deborah Benson, 54; and Christopher Trey Benson, 25. They are charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and conspiracy to commit money laundering

The maximum penalty for charges in the case is life in prison and a $5 million fine with a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.

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