Man pleads guilty to growing marijuana

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach man pled guilty Friday in a Norfolk federal court to growing hundreds of marijuana plants, to U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Adam Ray Pipkin, 31, faces a maximum term of 40 years in prison for growing the plants in an East Alanton residence rented by another person. 

Court records show that detectives obtained a search warrant for the residence, where they recovered 265 marijuana plants growing in pots, lighting equipment, growing materials, containers, boxes and other materials related to growing the plant.

An investigation also uncovered a storage unit, fluorescent lighting, white glow lamps, a white transformer, green spong-grow blocks, and instructional magazines for growing marijuana. Records show Pipkin had been recruited to grow for another individual in the Alanton residence.

The plants had not yet matured to the point where they could have been harvested into "high-grade marijuana," a press release from the attorney's office said, and sold.

Pipkin will be sentenced on May 3, 2010.