Pair who ran Barrington-area pot farm get plea deal
Two men who cultivated a massive pot-growing operation in a Barrington-area forest preserve have been sentenced to two years in prison.
Jose Verra and Bernardo Rangel, both 23, pleaded guilty Thursday to unauthorized production of cannabis.
A college-age conservation intern stumbled upon the sprawling plantation in June and alerted authorities.
Verra and Rangel tended to 30,000 or so marijuana plants -- some reaching 8 feet tall -- that dotted 11 fields within the Crabtree Nature Preserve.
"The forest preserve is land preserved for the enjoyment of society, not criminal endeavors," Cook County Judge John Scotillo said.
Hidden in thick brush just yards from busy roads was one of the most sophisticated operations authorities say they've seen. Generators and a car battery powered sump pumps for an irrigation system.
Verra and Rangel were found living in one of three elaborate camps. They slept on cots and cooked with fuel from a propane tank. A radio and copy of High Times -- a magazine for pot enthusiasts -- provided entertainment.
Authorities put the crop's street value as high as $10 million.
Verra and Rangel, who have no known addresses, could have faced up to five years in prison for what Scotillo called "brazen acts."
Assistant Public Defenders Joe Gump and Beth Miner asked for probation because neither man had prior criminal records. In exchange for their guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed to amend the charge to a lower class felony.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has said Rangel and Verra were not the ringleaders. They likely were just two of many field workers promised cash at the end of the harvest season.
Authorities say they don't know who stood to profit by converting the 1,650-acre preserve into pot fields.
A third man believed to be connected to the operation is still wanted by police. A Cook County judge in December issued an arrest warrant with a $40,000 bond for 47-year-old Noel Zarco-Maldonado of Milwaukee.
No other arrests have been made, Cook County Forest Preserve spokesman Steve Mayberry said.