One of two men accused of coaxing a pair of brothers – ages 2 and 4 – to smoke marijuana while being videotaped is scheduled to go on trial today.

However, authorities are trying Vanswan Polty on the more serious charge of engaging in organized criminal activity in connection with a series of burglaries committed in Tarrant County in the weeks before his February 2007 arrest.

Fort Worth police said they were investigating the burglaries when they uncovered a videotape of two young children smoking marijuana at a home in Watauga. The tape, investigators said, shows Mr. Polty and his friend, Demetris McCoy, giving the boys a marijuana cigar inside Mr. McCoy's home.

Mr. Polty and Mr. McCoy – who is the boys' uncle – can be seen laughing and joking on the video as they urged the boys to smoke.

Mr. McCoy, who was 17 at the time, pleaded guilty to two counts of injury to a child. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and has agreed to testify against Mr. Polty, officials said.

Authorities also charged Mr. Polty, now 20, with injury to a child for his role in that incident. They said that case would be disposed of after the trial on the charge of engaging in organized crime has been completed.

Police said a third suspect, a juvenile, videotaped the boys as they smoked the marijuana cigar. His case was handled in juvenile court, but his status was not available Monday.

Mr. Polty's Fort Worth attorney, Tim White, said an onslaught of media attention about the video could hinder his client's chance for a fair trial in the organized crime case. The video is not expected to be shown during trial but could appear during the punishment phase, if Mr. Polty is convicted, Mr. White said.

"This case is not just about Vanswan Polty," Mr. White said. "It's about the criminal justice system. It's about the media and that tape."

Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Darrell Dávila declined to comment about the case Monday.

If convicted, Mr. Polty faces five to 99 years in prison, or he could be sentenced to life. The maximum sentence he could receive if convicted of injury to a child is 10 years in prison.

The two children are living with a North Texas family and awaiting adoption, said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales. Last December their mother, Shatorria Russell, gave up her parental rights, Ms. Gonzales said.

At the time her sons were given the marijuana, authorities said, Ms. Russell – Mr. McCoy's sister – was asleep in a nearby room. She was not charged.