Glen Ellyn Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison Following Federal Drug Investigation

A Glen Ellyn man was sentenced Friday in California to 15 years in prison for conspiring to deliver more than 100 kilograms of marijuana as part of his role in an "interstate marijuana-distribution operation," according to the Daily Herald. 

William Brock, 37, was also ordered to pay $250,000 in fines during a sentencing hearing in Sacramento, Calif., according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice U.S. States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner — Eastern District of California. 

A California jury found Brock guilty following a 2.5-day trial in November. 

Judge Morrison C. England Jr. said during Friday's sentencing hearing that the operation "was the largest and most advanced and sophisticated marijuana distribution scheme that he had seen in his 12 years on the federal bench and six years as a California state court judge," according to the news release. 

The DOJ press release provided the following additional information on the case: 

Brock was the target of an interstate marijuana distribution investigation conducted by the Will County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois, and which included a warehouse that Brock rented in North Highlands, Calif. 

As part of that investigation, Will County Sheriff’s deputies came to California in April 2012 to install a GPS tracking device on a vehicle believed to be used by Brock while he was in California. Brock discovered the GPS device after it was installed, apparently using a lookout, and switched vehicles, arriving at his warehouse unit in a minivan owned and driven by William Calvert. 

In Calvert’s van police found more than 200 pounds of processed marijuana in double vacuum-sealed bags that were contained in 45 cardboard boxes. Police then searched Brock’s warehouse unit, in which they found similar boxes containing more than 300 pounds of processed marijuana, also packed in double-vacuum-sealed bags.

At the same time as the searches were being conducted in California, Will County Sheriff’s deputies searched Brock’s storage unit and his residence in Illinois. They found processed marijuana, more than $150,000 in cash, and over $1 million in silver bullion and gold and silver coins.