Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty in Large Marijuana Haul

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ A Minnesota man arrested in central Kansas with 471 pounds of marijuana in his van has pleaded guilty to a drug charge.

Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Mark Berg, of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, entered the plea Tuesday to one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

A Kansas Highway Patrol trooper stopped Berg's van in December on Interstate 70 in Ellsworth, Kansas. Two other vehicles were traveling with the van.

Berg told the trooper he had been in Las Vegas and drove through Denver on his way back to Minnesota.

After a drug dog sniffed the van, investigators found the marijuana.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19. Berg faces up to 40 years in federal prison.