Man sentenced for conspiring to send 239 pounds of marijuana

By The Associated Press

news@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ A Utah man has been sentenced for conspiring with his brother to ship 239 pounds of marijuana on a single-engine plane to Rhode Island.

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha announced Friday that 38-year-old Benjamin J. Daniels, of Sandy, Utah, was sentenced in Providence to 34 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release.

His brother, 33-year-old Michael Daniels, formerly of Tiverton, Rhode Island, was sentenced in 2014 to 18 months in prison.                

Authorities discovered the drugs aboard the plane at an airport in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

The pilot was allowed to go on to Rhode Island. Michael Daniels was arrested as he loaded boxes of marijuana into a vehicle.

Benjamin Daniels’ attorney, John L. Calcagni, III, says the judge was fair and offered his client a second chance.  

© The Associated Press / WLNE-TV 2015