Three area men accused in federal court of bringing large amounts of cocaine into Columbia County from Illinois will spend several years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Jerome H. Worzalla, 61, on Wednesday to 60 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.

Worzalla pleaded guilty to the charge in May.

Also recently sentenced to similar charges were Kenneth J. Jessick, 51, of Baraboo, and Maciel A. Nino-Rodriguez, 38, of Madison; both were sentenced to 40 months in prison.

All three men were charged in February with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, 15 counts of distributing cocaine and one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

The charges relate to alleged activity between February 2007 and February 2009, in which Jessick, Nino-Rodriguez and Worzalla were accused of transporting multiple kilograms of cocaine from Illinois to Sun Prairie and to the town of Hampden, where it was divided into smaller quantities and sold.

Investigators conducted two simultaneous search warrants Feb. 4 at Worzalla's Arnold Road property in the town of Hampden and at a residence in North Bristol, and a third search of a Madison apartment later that day.

Authorities said they recovered cash, weapons, drug paraphernalia and about a half-kilogram of cocaine, estimated to be worth $10,000 to $12,000.

"This was a pretty substantial cocaine operation," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul W. Connell in February.

Because Worzalla sold cocaine from his property on Arnold Road in Columbia County, federal authorities declared the property forfeit.

It will be sold at auction by the U.S. Marshals Service.

The charges were the result of a six-month investigation by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, the Dodge County Sheriff's Office, the Dane County Sheriff's Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.

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