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Truck driver accused of trafficking marijuana pleads not guilty

Posted at 1:42 PM, Apr 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-16 18:41:28-04

A 36-year-old Oregon truck driver accused of transporting almost 7,000 pounds of what police said was marijuana through Idaho pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday.

Denis Palamarchuk was arrested in January when Idaho State Police seized a semitrailer filled with 6,700 pounds of a green, leafy substance believed by an Idaho State Police trooper to be marijuana.

Both the driver and a representative of the trucking company he works for insist that it was industrial hemp, which is now legal under the recently-passed U.S. Farm Bill, but is still illegal in Idaho.

Big Sky Scientific LLC has filed a lawsuit against both the Idaho State Police and Ada County.

Palamarchuk, who is out on bond, appeared in court in Ada County.

His trial is set for October.

If convicted, he could face a maximum of fifteen years in prison.