FARMINGTON – A Jay man pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of unlawful trafficking of marijuana in an agreement that will send him to prison.

Robert A. Whittemore, 58, was initially charged with one count each of aggravated trafficking in marijuana and aggravated marijuana cultivation in September 2007 after police raided his Barking Dog Mill on Route 140 and found about $300,000 worth of pot. He pleaded not guilty and told the Sun Journal the marijuana did not belong to him.

Thursday’s agreement dropped the original charges, which were more serious, and gave him a one-year deferred disposition. If Whittemore adheres to certain requirements during that time, the state would ask for a sentence of not more than four years in prison with all but nine months and one day suspended, three years of probation and a $2,000 fine.

Defense attorney Margaret Joly is expected to argue for a lesser sentence.

If he does not comply with the requirements, it will be an open plea and the court would decide the sentence.

Franklin County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy accepted the agreement, but told Whittemore that even if things go well, “You’re still going to prison.”

His sentencing date is set for Oct. 16, 2009.

The case stems from a raid at Whittemore’s Barking Dog Mill property on Route 140 on Sept. 24, 2007 by Maine Drug Enforcement agents, Jay police and Franklin and Oxford county deputies. Police said they seized 90 plants with a street value of $90,000 near a pig pen on the property. They also confiscated about a pound of processed marijuana packaged in 1 ounce bags for distribution, police said. There was an indoor growing room and drying room where several pounds of marijuana were found.

In all, police estimated the street value of the marijuana at $300,000.

Whittemore, who was not home at the time of the raid, turned himself into police two days later.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson, standing in for Assistant Attorney General David Fisher, said MDEA Supervisor Gerry Baril would have testified, if the case went to trial, that Whittemore had made some admission to having marijuana and that it was for personal use, and some may have been for sale.

Robinson also noted that Whittemore had made some statements that he was covering for someone else who lived on the property.

Robinson also said that Whittemore has a previous federal conviction of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He was convicted in 1988 in U.S. District Court in Bangor and sentenced to serve 10 years at a New York federal prison, according to court documents.