MALONE -- A Malone man will spend time in prison on drug charges.

U.S. Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby said Scott L. Boyea, 45, of Malone was sentenced in Albany before Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy to 18 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Boyea must also forfeit a 1997 GMC Sierra pickup truck, a cellular phone and a two-way radio, and pay a special assessment of $100.

Boyea pleaded guilty May 17 to possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with the intent to distribute.

He was arrested Feb. 13, 2006, as he tried to avoid the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint that was operating on Interstate 87 near the town of North Hudson.

The bed of the pickup truck that Boyea was driving contained two large duffle bags that held marijuana packaged for sale.

The total weight of the marijuana, absent the packaging, was more than 20 kilograms and less than 40 kilograms.

This matter was investigated by U.S. Border Patrol officers from Champlain, the New York State Police, Ray Brook, and the Essex County Sheriff's Department.