Roc-A-Fella founder Kareem Burke pleads guilty in NY marijuana case

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - A former Jay-Z business partner and founder of the Roc-A-Fella record label pleaded guilty Thursday to marijuana distribution charges.

The New York Daily News reports Kareem (Biggs) Burke, 38, was arrested in October 2010 along with more than 50 other people for conspiring to distribute more than 100 kilos of marijuana, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

The suspects were caught during a federal drug sting called "Operation Green Venom," targeting a wholesale marijuana ring in New York and Florida.

Authorities seized nearly $2 million and more than 260 pounds of marijuana in the probe. The government said a raid on Burke's residence in New Jersey produced the remains of a marijuana growing operation and $15,000 in cash.

Burke entered the plea Thursday in federal court. Burke started Roc-A-Fella with Jay-Z and Damon Dash in the 1990s. The trip split up in 2004.

Burke faces five to six years in prison at a May 18 sentencing.