United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - William Brock, 37, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., was sentenced today to 15 years and eight months in prison and fined $250,000 for conspiring to distribute at least 100 kilograms of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute at least 100 kilograms of marijuana.

On November 6, 2013, Brock was convicted by a jury in Sacramento after a 2-and-a-half-day trial before Chief United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. At the sentencing hearing today, Judge England stated that this 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. Judge England also referred to the evidence against Brock as “overwhelming.”

According to testimony presented at trial, Brock, who is from a suburb of Chicago, 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.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Will County Sherriff’s Office, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, the City of Folsom Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Pickles and Jeffrey Spivak prosecuted the case.