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Charges Dropped In Thurmont Farm Equipment Theft Case

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Frederick County prosecutors say they won't pursue theft charges against a Thurmont farmer accused of possessing stolen farm and construction equipment.

The state's attorney's office said Wednesday that the charges filed in June against Jan Lawyer will be dismissed in return for his help in the investigation.

Lawyer has said he didn't know the machinery was stolen when he bought some of it years ago. He says the other pieces somehow ended up on his property but he didn't steal them.

Investigators say the equipment was stolen from Frederick County and Baltimore City from 2003 to 2006.

The Lawyer family creates an annual autumn corn maze that it claims is the largest in Maryland. Lawyer says he converted an allegedly stolen mini-excavator into an apple cannon for entertaining farm visitors.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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