The federal trial of two Canadian nationals accused of smuggling 547 pounds of high-grade marijuana estimated to be worth $1 million to $2 million into the United States by way of Clallam Bay three months ago has been postponed from Aug. 24 to Jan. 4.

U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin H. Settle granted a request for continuance Monday so lawyers for Kyle Grayson Gadsby, 25, and Colin Charles Crowe, 26, could have more time to prepare for the trial, Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, said Wednesday.

Gadsby and Crowe have been indicted for conspiracy to import a controlled substance; they face five to 40 years in prison.

Their lawyers “want more time to get up to speed, and that’s fairly typical,” Langlie said.

“Very few defendants actually go to trial on the first date set.”

Both of Maple Ridge, B.C., Gadsby and Crowe were caught unloading the marijuana, packed in eight large plastic bags, from an inflatable boat east of Clallam Bay at about 1:20 a.m. May 31, according to court documents.

The two told authorities the marijuana did not belong to them and that they were each promised $5,000 for transporting it to a designated beach, according to the federal indictment.

Authorities valued the marijuana, known as high quality “B.C. bud,” at $1 million to $2 million.

Customs Enforcement Special Agent Peter Gomez saw the two unloading the haul, although the indictment didn’t divulge where Gomez was at the time or the circumstances that led him to discover their presence.

The boat was parked at the beach at Milepost 35 of state Highway 112 when Gomez trained his flashlight on the pair, discovering the bags of marijuana on the boat and the beach, according to the indictment.

Gadsby and Crowe fled in the boat but were intercepted by federal Customs and Border Protection interdiction agents aboard an enforcement boat after a 1.5-mile chase and 40 minutes after they were first spotted.

They were released on their own recognizance after each put up property bonds.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.