Plea Deal Rejected for 80-Year-Old Marijuana Dealer Who Stashed Millions in North Reading

North Reading, MA - A plea agreement that would have sentenced an 80-year-old marijuana dealer who stashed over $11 million in North Reading to five to seven years was rejected by a federal judge.

Marshall Dion was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court, but the hearing was canceled after Judge Denise Casper rejected a joint sentencing recommendation by Dion's lawyers and and the prosecution, according to the Associated Press.

Casper had postponed a hearing scheduled for February after questioning why the plea deal was significantly lower than the 30-year sentence called for under federal guidelines.

The end of Dion’s criminal enterprises began in 2013, when Dion, then 78, was pulled over in Kansas for going 4 miles per hour over the speed limit.

During the traffic stop, police found $850,000 in Dion’s pick up truck. During the subsequent investigation, police found a GPS, which eventually lead to the discovery of the North Reading storage facility.

In addition to the $11 million, authorities also found nearly 400 pounds of marijuana in the North Reading storage facility.

Over the course of Dion’s criminal career, he sold between 3,000 and 10,000 kilograms of marijuana, according to assistant U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.

Dion's lawyers have until March 18 to decide whether he will withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial, or agree to be sentenced without a plea agreement.