DELAWARE - A Marion chiropractor has been sentenced to federal prison time in a multimillion-dollar marijuana smuggling ring that used a Delaware building as a waypoint.

And another chiropractor has pleaded to his role and is awaiting sentencing.

Federal authorities said the group moved thousands of pounds of high-grade "B.C. Bud" marijuana from Canada to Chicago where it was sold or continued on to the East Coast.

In July, Marion chiropractor Jeff Kopp, 53, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison followed by another five years of supervised release.

He had been facing more than 10 years behind bars.

His acquaintance, Michael Breneman, 55, of Maquoketa, also pleaded and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8.

Records obtained by The Courier indicate the Iowa and Chicago operation was a hub of a larger ring based in Canada and Washington state with links to the Hells Angels motorcycle club.

Documents detail a sophisticated operation that brought pot across the northern border hidden in semi trucks equipped with secret compartments, in hollowed out logs and even in a propane tanker.

The group employed couriers to move drugs and bundles of cash around the country and workers to count money. There was even an insurance plan in case authorities intercepted a shipment of contraband.

During a three-year investigation, federal agents arrested 38 people and seized 7,000 pounds of marijuana, 1,300 pounds of cocaine and more than $3.5 million in cash connected with the group.

Both Kopp and Breneman had been chiropractors in Washington state before returning to Iowa.

Prosecutors said in court records that Kopp was establishing a "distribution hub" in Northeast Iowa for smuggle marijuana.

"Kopp intended to use the wood products manufacturing business Breneman was starting as a front for the continued distribution of marijuana to Illinois and Texas," records state.

In May 2007, border agents found a semi trailer with 600 pounds of marijuana crossing the Canadian border into North Dakota. They followed it to Iowa to a rented building where they caught Kopp and Breneman in what was described as a trans-shipment point.

During sentencing, family members described Kopp as a Maquoketa native who graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport.

He moved to Washington to set up a practice in the area of Stanwood, a town of about 5,000 on the coast between Seattle and Vancouver.

Kopp became well respected in the community, coaching his children's athletic teams and volunteering on the board of directors of the local food bank.

After 23 years in the northwest, the family decided to return to Iowa in 2004 to be near relatives.

Kopp soon found he would need further education to practice in Iowa, and while he studied to gain his license, the family began to experience financial troubles and an impending foreclosure, records state.

"He was between a rock and a hard place. He started telling me that things would be OK, but I didn't know what he meant," his wife wrote in a letter to the court before sentencing.

Authorities allege a man named Farren Dean Docter in Washington, or someone working for Docter, sent Kopp $32,000 for moving marijuana from Iowa to Chicago in April 2007. The money went through Federal Express to Kopp's Cedar Rapids office, court records state.

A month later, he was apparently tapped to handle the 600 pounds of marijuana.

Chicago hub

After authorities detained Kopp and Breneman, the 600 pounds of marijuana continued on Chicago under the watchful eye of federal agents.

Daniel Francis Berger, 41, of Hinsdale, Ill., and Canadians Azar Berend Niekamp, 31, and David Anthony Downing, 32, were waiting to pick it up.

Court records state Niekamp, a native of India who taught English as a second language, was leaving the organization and recruited Berger to take his place.

Before coming to Chicago, Downing was a marijuana grower who fell into debt operating a failed Vancouver restaurant, according to court records.

In 2005, Jason Boychek, one of his creditors, offered him $5,000 to $10,000 a month to move to Chicago to count drug money and maintain records for the marijuana operation, records state.

The following year Downing became involved in the distribution operation and a short time later took over Chicago operations for the ring when Boychek returned to Canada to deal with "quality control" problems, record state.

The position apparently kept Downing busy. As he was being arrested in connection with the 600-pound shipment, his Blueberry communications device received an email message.

It was another courier who was bringing in 385 pounds of marijuana, valued at more than $1 million. That courier had been pulled over near Rock Island, Ill., and DEA agents - who didn't know about the 600-pound seizure or the arrest - were trying to arrange a controlled delivery to catch Downing.

"That was kind of a bad day for him," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Reinert, who prosecuted the Iowa and Chicago members.

Between 2005 and 2006, the Chicago group moved about 8,400 pounds of marijuana and laundered $3.5 million in drug proceeds, court records state.

Records allege authorities caught Boyachek with $237,000 in cash while he was boarding a train for California in 2003. In 2006, a storage company went to police after finding $738,000 in cash in a locker rented to Boyachek, records state.

Niekamp and Burger pleaded to drug charges. Both were sentenced to time served with supervised release, and Niekamp was deported back to Canada.

Downing is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 9.

Canadian connection

Docter, the man who allegedly sent Kopp money for the April 2007 delivery, is a 35-year-old Stanwood, Wash., resident who was in charge of the organization's United States transportation operations, records claim.

During the investigation, authorities seized 1,850 pounds of marijuana hidden in large PVC pipes in Stanwood in April 2006. Records show the area was a transshipment point with pot hidden in local buildings.

Docter had been recruited by Robert J. Shannon, 38, a British Columbia resident who was in charge of distributing drugs on behalf of the Hells Angels and others, according to indictment records.

Another Canadian involved in the group, Devron Quast, was an automobile dealership manager who oversaw the day-to-day operations for the group. He provided insurance to the marijuana suppliers, guaranteeing the drugs would be successfully smuggled into the U.S.

"Quast agreed to pay the suppliers $425 per pound of marijuana if any load was seized by law enforcement or lost in some other fashion, during transport," according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Washington.

Prosecutors allege Shannon and Quast were involved in smuggling 596 pounds of cocaine from California in July 2007. The shipment, which was bound for Washington, was intercepted by law enforcement.

The two also discussed a plan to smuggle cocaine into Canada from the U.S. using helicopters, records allege.

Shannon and Quast were indicted on federal drug charges in June after they met with an undercover agent who claimed to have connections to a corrupt boarder guard.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.