NEWPORT-Three of the 18 defendants who are accused as a result of a four-year marijuana conspiracy investigation entered guilty pleas to charges against them in criminal court on Monday.

Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II accepted the negotiated plea agreements in the cases and will sentence the defendants on October 27. Other defendants in the conspiracy case are awaiting trial or other court dates.

The defendants who pled guilty on Monday to conspiracy to sell or deliver marijuana are Annie B. Dreadin, 69, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; April Laws, 42, of Old Highway 25E, Thorn Hill; and Michael Dwayne "Bear" Wise, 49, of 127 Goins Cemetery Lane, Tazewell.

The three defendants are alleged to have been involved in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the East Tennessee area led by co-defendants Charles Eddie Arms Sr., 65, of 385 Gardenia Road, and his wife, 61-year-old Mary O. Arms.

Assistant District Attorney General Brownlow Marsh told the court that the conspiracy began in January 2004 and continued until November 21, 2008. Prosecutors allege that the Armses purchased more than 300 pounds of marijuana from Alabama and Kentucky and headed up the distribution of the drug in the Cocke County area.

The state alleges that while Mr. Arms was serving a federal prison sentence for marijuana distribution, Mrs. Arms was in charge of the local distribution operation.

The presentment returned by the Cocke County Grand Jury on January 14 alleges that the 18 defendants participated in a conspiracy to buy and distribute more than 300 pounds of marijuana.

Co-defendant Gather Richard Lyles, 59, of Altoona, Alabama, is alleged to have sold about 105 pounds of marijuana to Charles Eddie and Mary Arms in Alabama on September 6, 2008. The other defendants are alleged to have arranged for the sale of large and small amounts of the drug, of receiving shipments of marijuana, and of breaking down the large shipments into smaller packages for sale.

Dreadin pled guilty on Monday to conspiracy to sell marijuana and accepted a ten-year sentence. She was fined $2,000 plus court costs, and the issue of probation and other details of the sentence will be decided during a hearing on October 27.

Prosecutor Marsh said that agents recorded numerous telephone calls between Dreadin and Charles Eddie Arms and that deliveries were made between the Arms residence and Dreadin's home.

In addition, Dreadin accepted delivery of 105 pounds of marijuana in an undercover state "sting" operation near the end of the investigation, Marsh told the court, adding that some of the alleged acts in the conspiracy occurred in Grainger County, where Dreadin lives, and others occurred in Cocke County.

Dreadin is also facing potential criminal charges in Grainger County, and the plea-bargain calls for the local sentence to be served concurrently with any sentence received in Grainger County Circuit Court.

Laws pled guilty on Monday to conspiracy to deliver between 70 and 300 pounds of marijuana during the investigation.

Marsh said Laws made repeated calls to other co-conspirators in the case "offering and attempting to procure other marijuana sources for Charles Eddie Arms and, on at least one occasion, traveled with [Arms] to Nashville to deliver marijuana."

Laws is also alleged to have distributed cash among the co-defendants in the case, Marsh said.

She was sentenced to eight years under the terms of the plea-bargain and was fined $2,000 plus court costs. Requests for probation and other sentencing details will be decided during the October 27 hearing.

Wise was sentenced to six years in custody and fined $2,000 plus court costs in his plea agreement with state prosecutors. Judge Hooper will determine matters of probation and other sentencing issues on October 27.

Wise is alleged to have made telephone calls to Mary Arms arranging for delivery of marijuana during the state investigation, Marsh told the court.

Other defendants named in the 55-count grand jury presentment and who are still awaiting  disposition of their cases are Kentucky resident Douglas Durham; Scottie Bailey, 39, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; Lisa Darlene Large, 45, of 322 Lonesome Pine Road, Bybee; Susan Denise Scearce, 38, of 138 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; Donna Roberts, 53, of 9109 Highway 25-E, Thorn Hill; Timothy Wayne Evans, 49, of 170 Highway 160, Newport; Sandra D. Evans, 42, of 170 Highway 160, Newport; David Douglas, 47, of 5850 Hiawatha Road, Morristown; Misty L. Harris, 27, of 3419 Dedra Street, Morristown; Richard Lee Church Jr.; and Tonya Perry.

Agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force; the Cocke, Grainger, and Jefferson county sheriff's departments; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Tennessee Highway Patrol were involved in the investigation.