A 64-year-old man who is accused of growing marijuana in his Lyle home took a plea deal Monday in Mower County District Court, three days after his co-defendant was sentenced to five years probation in the case.

Conrad Walter Petersen pleaded guilty to fifth-degree drug manufacturing in exchange for dismissal of two other felony drug charges.

On March 14, Petersen was pulled over by law enforcement in Idaho. Police discovered 3 grams of marijuana and more than $71,000 in cash in Petersen’s possession, according to a court complaint.

The police became suspicious Petersen might be involved in a marijuana growing operation because the bundles of money smelled like pot, the complaint states.

Mower County Sheriff’s deputies learned of Petersen’s traffic stop in Idaho on March 15 and visited his house in Lyle Township, where his girlfriend, Deborah Jean Tucker, 58, also lived. A search of the house uncovered several items used for growing marijuana, including heat lamps, irrigation equipment and a “walled-off room” inside a shed that contained 48 empty growing pots, a carbon dioxide tank and liquid fertilizers.

Tucker admitted to deputies she had three pot plants growing in an upstairs closet, but she disposed of them when she heard of Petersen’s arrest. Tucker also admitted that Petersen, who was on his way to Washington when he was arrested, had bought 20-30 small marijuana plants from someone in Washington on a previous trip.

According to the court complaint, Tucker told officers Petersen had harvested the marijuana from the shed a few weeks ago.

The seized marijuana weighed 733.5 grams.