Ingleside man pleads guilty in marijuana conspiracy

An Ingleside man pleaded guilty in a federal court in Rockford Friday to conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana.

Justin T. Paglusch, 35, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, as well as a maximum fine of $4 million and a term of supervised release following imprisonment of at least five years.

Sentencing is set for June 23.

The guilty plea was announced by Zachary Fardon, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

According to Fardon, Paglusch was part of a conspiracy to manufacture 1,000 or more marijuana plants at a warehouse at 1916 11th St. in Rockford.

That warehouse was destroyed by fire on Jan. 6, 2015.

According to the plea agreement, in November 2014, Paglusch's cousin, a 39-year-old former Des Plaines man, asked Paglusch to join the marijuana-growing operation.

Paglusch agreed and also lived at the warehouse.

At the time, more than 1,000 marijuana plants growing on the fourth floor in the warehouse were ready to be harvested, reports said. There was also a smaller room on the fourth floor housing "clone" marijuana plants.

Authorities said Paglusch and his cousin, along with three other co-defendants, began harvesting the crop in December 2014.

The harvested marijuana was weighed and packaged into one pound amounts and vacuum-sealed, and the processed marijuana was stored in a vault at the warehouse, according to reports.

The Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Rockford Fire Department, the Winnebago County sheriff's department and the Rockford Police Department Narcotics Unit were among those assisting in the investigation.