A Summit Township man Wednesday withdrew a plea to possessing nearly 3 pounds of marijuana and "magic mushrooms" because he wants his day in court to argue that his Constitutional rights were violated.

Bradley Calvin Weitzel, 50, only last month pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors withdrew charges of manufacture of a controlled substance, conspiracy and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Weitzel, under the deal, would have ended up on probation for 6 years; however, it would have spared him jail time.

But the defendant had a change of heart, believing he is the victim of a pair of illegal searches, and wanted out of the plea agreement.

Butler County Judge William Shaffer approved the plea withdrawal in the case, which could go to trial as early as the week of July 21.

If convicted, Weitzel faces a mandatory 1-to 2-year sentence on the possession with intent to deliver charge — a felony.

Should prosecutors seek a deadly weapon enhancement, since police turned up several guns during the search of Weitzel's home, another 5 to 10 years could be tacked onto the sentence, according to the defendant's lawyer.

"He wants to pursue his Constitutional right to a trial,"defense attorney Jerry Cassady said. "And he wants to preserve his rights to appeal on the matter of the searches and whatever other issues arise at trial."

Weitzel has questioned the legality of the search of his Portman Road home by the Butler County Drug Task Force that led to his arrest two years ago, as well as the circumstances of an initial search.

The defendant's wife, Mary Weitzel, 47, and the couple's son, Bradley Elton Weitzel, 21, were also arrested in the same case and face similar charges as Weitzel.

Previous plea bargain attempts between prosecutors and attorneys for Weitzel's wife and son have failed, setting the stage for one trial with the entire family.

All three Weitzels are free on recognizance bond.

The case emerged in June 2006 when a DHL delivery driver became suspicious of a large package addressed to Bradley Calvin Weitzel.

Instead of driving to Weitzel's house, the driver eventually took the package to authorities at the courthouse where it was X-rayed, prompting more suspicion about what was inside.

A sheriff's drug-detecting canine further raised suspicions of the package's contents, investigators said.

Police obtained a search warrant and opened the package. The contents revealed a typical kit to grow psilocybin — or hallucinogenic — mushrooms.

Psilocybin mushrooms are ingested orally, and are known to yield mind-altering effects similar to those produced by LSD.

Authorities claim no search warrant was needed because the delivery company has the right to inspect any package it deems suspicious.

Asecond warrant was issued to search Weitzel's home. That search, according to court documents, in part turned up eight marijuana plants and several bags of mushrooms as well as two pistols and four long guns.

Weitzel, then represented by a different attorney, last year raised legal questions over the warrants as part of a motion to suppress evidence collected in the searches; but the court denied the motion.

If Weitzel took the plea deal, Cassady said, he could not have appealed the ruling that upheld the warrants.

Shaffer, meanwhile, set July 9 as a pretrial conference to allow Cassady and prosecutor Kristine DeMarco of the state Attorney General's office another opportunity to strike a deal that would avoid a trial.

The Attorney General's office took over the case in January due to conflicts that emerged when Richard Goldinger became district attorney.

Goldinger's wife, then a public defender, had represented Bradley Elton Weitzel; and Ben Simon, then a defense attorney, had represented Bradley Calvin Weitzel. Simon is now a county prosecutor.

DeMarco declined to speculate about the prospects for another plea bargain.

"I don't comment on plea negotiations," she said; however, she said she was prepared to go to trial.

Cassady said he still held out hope that a plea agreement could be reached.

"But at this point,"he said,"we're swinging heavily into trial preparation mode."