MOSCOW, July 8 (RAPSI) – The four residents of Voronezh, a city about 600 km southwest of Moscow, who were convicted of the possession of over 5 tons of poppy straw, will appeal their sentence, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing their attorney, Vladimir Morgunov.

The family claimed they used the poppy straw for confectionery purposes. 

The Levoberezhny District Court in Voronezh on Tuesday sentenced the four-member family to various prison terms. The husband was sent to prison for 8 years and 4 months, and his wife, their daughter and the wife’s sister were sentenced to 8 and a half years each.

The investigation into their case lasted for over five years. The group denied the charges, even though they were caught red-handed in a test purchase operation in March 2010. According to a press release by the local department of the Federal Drug Control Service, searches of their premises yielded about 5 metric tons of drugs.