Man pleads guilty after seniors ate his THC brownies

TYNDALL, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota man has pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge after his mother unknowingly served his marijuana-laced brownies to a group of seniors at the Tabor Community Center.

Michael Koranda, 46, appeared at the Bon Homme County Courthouse Tuesday where he waived his preliminary hearing and entered the plea.

As part of a plea deal, both the prosecution and defense jointly recommended Koranda receive a suspended imposition of sentence, which would allow the judge to place him on probation for a period of time.

A report from Bon Homme County Sheriff's Office says dispatchers received several calls about possible poisonings on Jan. 4. All the calls involved seniors who had earlier been at a community center card game.

An investigation into the incident led authorities to believe the patients were all under the influence of THC, the compound in cannabis that produces the high sensation and that the THC came from a batch of brownies brought by a woman to the community center, the Yankton Press and Dakotan  reported.

Seniors who ate the brownies identified the woman who brought them. She said her son had baked the brownies she brought to the card game.

The plea agreement also calls for Koranda to pay any medical bills that aren't covered by insurance for those who ate the brownies. He would also pay any fines and court costs.

Koranda is to be sentenced March 15. The drug charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.