The police officer who pleaded guilty to federal marijuana possession and cultivation charges for running two indoor growing operations with his girlfriend is no longer an employee of the Hono­lulu Police Department.

An HPD spokes­woman said the department terminated Michael Steven Chu on Thursday.

When Chu pleaded guilty earlier this month, his lawyer, Sean Coutain, asked U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway to amend Chu’s release conditions to allow him to report for duty Wednesday. Chu had been on unpaid leave.

Federal prosecutor Thomas Mueh­leck opposed Chu returning to work because he said investigators believe he may have used information he obtained as a police officer to get involved in his crimes. Mueh­leck also said authorities had not yet determined who was the person behind the marijuana operation despite Chu’s claim that it was his girlfriend Athena Sui Lee, and that he was just helping her.

Coutain said Chu expected to be fired and already had another job lined up. But he said Chu needed to report to HPD to preserve his union grievance rights.

Chu and Lee each face a maximum five-year prison term at sentencing later this year. Mollway is scheduled to sentence Lee in November and Chu in December.