WORCESTER — Peter Molle Jr. of Holland pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to running an illegal marijuana-growing operation and money laundering.

Molle, 36, admitted to two counts of manufacturing marijuana and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, and a single count of money laundering in U.S. District Court in Worcester. Judge Timothy S. Hillman has scheduled a sentencing date of April 29.

He faces between five and 40 years in federal prison, and fines of up to $5 million on the drug charges.

According to prosecutors, Molle operated an illegal commercial-style marijuana grow operation at his home over a least an 11-month period between February and December of 2017.

Federal agents raided the property in February 2017, and confiscated more than 100 pot plants. But Molle continued to operate a grow facility, leading to an other federal raid the following December that revealed another significant growing operation.

At the time of the first raid on his home, Molle was featured in an article in High Times, a marijuana industry trade publication, about burgeoning grow facilities in Massachusetts and Maine. It was titled “New England’s patriot pot growers.”

Marijuana is a Class D controlled substance according to federal law. It is illegal to own, grow or distribute.

In Massachusetts, marijuana was legalized by a state referendum in 2016, but there are strict restrictions on both the production and distribution of the drug. Private citizens may have no more than six plants at one time, or 12 plants per household, and the sale of the drug is prohibited between private parties.

Marijuana cultivation facilities and retail sales facilities are permitted but only when licensed by the state Cannabis Control Commission.

At the time of his arrest 13 months ago, Massachusetts had not yet issued any licenses for retail sales.