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Andrew Ross and David Dirksen spent six nights in the Osage County jail for escorting a semi truck allegedly hauling 18,000 pounds of marijuana through Pawhuska. Both men have bonded out.

Dirksen tells the News on 6 that the two men are veterans hauling medicine for veterans. He adds the semi truck was full of industrial hemp and that they were transporting it legally from Kentucky to Colorado.

Sixty pallets were pulled out of the semi and authorities ran tests on the product, but Dirksen says the tests were flawed. He notes that they tested for ‘No THC’ or ‘THC.” Dirksen says industrial hemp will test positive for trace amounts of THC.

Ross and Dirksen tried explaining the difference to police last Wednesday when the truck got pulled over for failing to make a complete stop at the four-way stop south of Pawhuska.

The two men are due back in court in March and are charged with aggravated trafficking and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. They are facing 15 years to life in prison as well as a $500,000 fine.