Olympic snowboarder's mother accused of marijuana ring

The mother of an Olympic snowboarder has been accused of being part of a large-scale marijuana operation after being arrested with more than $77,500 cash that investigators believe she drove across the country to collect, authorities said Monday.

Myra Hight, 51, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was being held on $1 million bail after being charged in Buffalo with federal conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Hight, the mother of Olympian Elena Hight, was arrested Feb. 20 in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg. Erie County Sheriff's investigators announced the arrest Monday, saying they had not wanted to impede their investigation into the operation, which they said reached into Utah, Nevada, California and Hawaii.

"These people were probably dealing in millions of dollars of marijuana," senior detective Alan Rozansky said.

Investigators have no reason to believe Elena Hight had any knowledge of the organization or was involved, the officials said. Hight competed in the 2006 and 2010 Olympics and is expected to participate in the 2014 Games.

There had been no other arrests in the case as of Monday afternoon.

Myra Hight likely drove loads of marijuana in her pickup truck across the country and collected payment for it, sheriff's officials said. Officers confiscated $77,571 in cash, a stun gun, computer, cell phones and a GPS device.

A man who answered the phone at a listing in Myra Hight's name declined to say whether she has a lawyer. He wouldn't identify himself but said Hight had been traveling on business for her company, MotoAdvisor Inc.

A Web listing for the company lists Hight as chief executive officer and describes the business as a software company focused on making service departments more efficient.