A 40-year-old Farmington man who said he started smoking pot to ease his migraines was sentenced Thursday for operating a marijuana growing operation with another suspect from the Twin Cities and harvesting more than 400 plants in central Minnesota.

David Minh Phan was sentenced in federal court in St. Paul to 12 months and one day in prison for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. Phan was indicted along with Quy Trong Nguyen, 34, of St. Louis Park in October.

On May 3, Nguyen also was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison on the same charge. Both pleaded guilty in January.

In a defense document arguing for a lesser sentence, Phan's attorneys noted that their client "initially began using marijuana recreationally and to treat migraines" before Phan and Nguyen saw the crop as a money-making option.

Phan also followed the debate about legalizing marijuana in the United States and hoped to "someday open a medical marijuana dispensary" in Minnesota, the defense filing added. "If he got started now, he would have a head start on everyone else," the court document added.

According to their plea agreements:

Phan and Nguyen admitted that from the spring of 2010 through October they grew and harvested the plants on land in Elk River Township.

They were both arrested Oct. 6, and authorities seized 443 marijuana plants, a pickup truck and more than $27,000 in cash.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482