The first of a half-dozen or so Chinese nationals — jailed since November for their part in a massive illegal marijuana growing operation that spanned three counties — have been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to the illegal manufacture of marijuana and use of a house for drug purposes, and they will likely be released soon after being given credit for time already served.

Fen Shou Chen was scheduled for a jury trial April 3, but pleaded guilty Friday, March 23. According to Jason Walker of the Prosecutor’s Office, the maximum amount of jail time facing any of the accused is six months.

“The standard range for someone who has no prior felony convictions is zero to six months,” said Walker. Since Chen and Chuangduo Chueng, who pleaded guilty Monday morning, have been jailed on $2 million bail since their arrests in late November, they will likely be released by the end of May.

Prosecutors may be able to secure longer sentences for some of the accused, Walker said. “There are enhancements on the table that can give the judge more discretion,” he said. “For example, if (the defendant) was manufacturing marijuana near a school or a school bus stop.”

The busts of illegal marijuana-growing operations began in late November and continued through the winter. Investigators said the 50 or so people arrested were Chinese nationals funded by overseas sources. Investigators found thousands of plants and also seized homes — which were bought by the Chinese nationals for cash in Grays Harbor, Thurston and King counties (the vast majority of the 50 warrants were served in Grays Harbor County) — more than $400,000 in gold bars and cash, 26 vehicles and marijuana growing equipment. The value of the marijuana found in the initial raid was estimated at $80 million. Some of the property will be distributed to the local jurisdictions where they were seized. Walker said his research points to the bust being the third largest marijuana bust in U.S. history.

Of the 50 or so arrested in raids that started in late November and stretched into December, a large number were released when investigators discovered many were brought to the country under false pretenses, believing they were working in legal marijuana-growing facilities.

“Based on the initial facts of the case the judge was inclined to set high bail,” said Walker. “But some had family members, their homes weren’t part of the search warrants, they had businesses still operating in the area, so bail was reduced. Some still couldn’t make it, they didn’t have anything to put up.”

Prosecutors described Chen as “middle management” in the marijuana-growing operation. Chen’s attorney disagreed, but in the end Judge David Edwards sentenced both men to six months.

The Prosecutor’s Office is splitting up the large caseload, an all-hands-on-deck approach, including a partially grant-funded prosecutor that handles the bulk of the drug-related cases. Walker said each case will be tried differently.

“The Germans have a saying: ‘The defendant should always be the subject, but never the object of the prosecution,’” he said. “I think that means we look at each case i individually, and these cases will be handled the same way we handle any prosecution.”

When asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, Chen said, through his court-appointed interpreter, that he wished to have his truck back, which was seized by authorities when he was arrested. Judge Edwards told him that was out of his hands.