Family members arrested in huge pot growing bust

A group of suburban family members are facing federal drug charges alleging they ran a multimillion dollar marijuana growing operation out of two houses in rural McHenry County.

Federal authorities, along with McHenry County Sheriff's police and the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, arrested the six family members and seized about 3,200 marijuana plants from homes near Woodstock and Marengo during a coordinated operation Tuesday, officials announced Thursday afternoon.

"I think this is going to turn out to be something pretty significant, and it will go beyond just the borders of McHenry and Lake counties," McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said.

Arrested on charges of conspiring to manufacture marijuana were Robert S. Cain, 47, of Cary; Charles P. Persico, 32, of Hoffman Estates; Jerry W. Romine, 30, of Woodstock; Jonathan S. Romine, 32, of Lake in the Hills; Robert Stringini, 71, of Schaumburg; and Loretta Cattani, 56, of Union.

Cattani was released pending a March 26 court appearance. The rest remain in federal custody awaiting detention hearings scheduled Friday and Monday in U.S. District Court.

The charges against them carry a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life imprisonment. Each defendant also could face fines of up to $4 million.

Nygren said each of the suspects is related either by marriage or by blood. The older age of some of the suspects, he said, is not surprising.

"There is a lot of money involved here and I don't think we're going to see just young kids smoking marijuana involved," Nygren said. "This is a business, and they ran it like one."

Nygren said a typical marijuana plant could produce about $1,000 of the drug, but the quality of the plants seized Tuesday made them perhaps three times more valuable.

Brian Besser, resident officer in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Rockford office, said the complex investigation into the operation began about two years ago and is expected to continue. He said the suspects took elaborate measures and used sophisticated means to cultivate a high potency marijuana.

"The people in this organization are not amateurs," Besser said. "They are experienced, highly skilled and tenured at what they do."