A New York woman accused of allowing marijuana to be grown illegally in a central Maine home she owned pleaded guilty in federal court in Bangor on Monday.
Jiamin Liao, 30, of New York City, is charged with maintaining a marijuana-involved premises. She agreed last month to plead guilty.
Liao allegedly bought a house in Madison to manufacture and distribute marijuana illegally, according to court records cited by the U.S. Department of Justice in a news release.
In March 2024, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office raided the Madison house and a related property Liao owned in Norridgewock.
Investigators found 551 marijuana plants at the Madison house and growing supplies.
At the Norridgewock property, Liao was found with about 30 pounds of processed marijuana. She allegedly admitted that she grew the processed marijuana at the Madison property and admitted to packaging the marijuana in one-pound bags and storing it at the Norridgewock property, according to the Justice Department.
Neither Liao nor her properties were licensed by the state to grow marijuana, according to the Justice Department.
Liao faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000.