A Kansas University student charged with keeping a house full of marijuana plants in an upscale Lawrence neighborhood received a probation sentence Friday in District Court.

“I am truly apologetic… I was a different person two years ago,” Steven A. Soby, 23, told a judge before apologizing publicly to his parents.

Under state sentencing guidelines, Soby could have received either prison or probation based on his plea to cultivation of marijuana and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. Judge Stephen Six granted him 18 months’ probation and noted that Soby had no criminal history.

Police began investigating Soby and Nolan H. Smith, 24, after drug informants said they had knowledge of marijuana growth at 3710 Hartford Ave., a home that backs up onto Alvamar Golf Course.

Police alleged that no one lived in the home at the time, but that the two men used it exclusively for an indoor growing operation. Evidence in the case included electricity bills that were three times higher than that of a neighboring home.

Smith also entered a plea in the case and is due to be sentenced Nov. 9.