BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A former prosecutor acknowledged tipping off a former deputy that he was under investigation in connection with a case in which a town official, law enforcement officers and others were charged with aiding a large, illegal marijuana operation in western Maine.

Former Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Kayla Alves, 36, of Farmington, pleaded guilty Tuesday to tampering with documents under an agreement with federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors say two deputies accepted new cars and an ownership stake in an operation that illegally sold more than $13 million in pot grown for Maine’s medical marijuana program. Alves and two law enforcement officers provided intelligence and tipped off participants, prosecutors said.

Alves’ attorney contends she was unaware of the alleged criminal operation and was merely doing a favor to a former deputy who was her neighbor. She realized her error and deleted the text messages, defense attorney Walter McKee said.

“It is important to remember that this is the sum total of what Kayla was charged with and pled guilty to. She had zero knowledge of the conspiracy,” McKee said.

The crime of tampering with documents carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but prosecutors will recommend at her sentencing hearing that she serve no more than six months. McKee said he’d recommend that she receive no time behind bars.

Court documents indicate former Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Bradley Scovil left his job to work for Lucas Sirois, the man at the center of the alleged operation that diverted medical marijuana to the black market.

He told Alves that he was working to legally manufacture and distribute CBD products, and pressured her to let him know if he was being investigated. She obliged in a text message in July 2020.