An Auburn man pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland to cultivating more than 50 marijuana plants and possessing more than 50 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Brian Bilodeau, 38, entered his plea in what agents referred to as a 2018 drug trafficking organization that was distributing large quantities of marijuana under the guise of Maine’s medical marijuana program.

According to court records, on Feb. 27, 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Bilodeau’s home. They seized about 180 pounds of marijuana, four firearms, a money-counting machine, a 2016 Lamborghini Huracan, and a 2014 Nissan GT-R.

Agents also searched a warehouse in Auburn used to cultivate marijuana, according to a U.S. District Court news release. There they seized about 321 marijuana plants and 181 pounds of marijuana. This marijuana was cultivated by Bilodeau and others, investigators said.

In the fall of 2019, Bilodeau filed a motion to dismiss two charges against him, citing a congressional act barring the U.S. Department of Justice from spending money on prosecutions for violation of federal drug laws against caregivers who are in compliance with their respective states’ medical marijuana laws. That motion was denied in December.

According to the news release, “in rejecting Bilodeau’s earlier argument that he was cultivating marijuana in compliance with Maine’s Medical Marijuana Program, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit stated Bilodeau and others ‘were knowingly engaged in a large-scale . . . black-market marijuana operation aimed at supplying marijuana to persons known not to be qualifying patients.’”

Similarly, the district court noted that “the drug ledgers seized from Bilodeau’s residence indicate a sales operation that extended far beyond patient supply consistent with the Maine’s Medical Marijuana Program).”

Until his plea was entered this week, Bilodeau had consistently denied guilt in the case.

While he was free on bail in 2020, Bilodeau won Maine’s amateur golf championship in the inaugural Maine Event tournament at Waterville Country Club.

Others have already entered pleas in the case or are awaiting trial.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations investigated the case with assistance from numerous federal, state and local law enforcement partners.