A Cranberry Township man, charged with facilitating an alleged million-dollar drug enterprise by distributing synthetic marijuana, pleaded guilty to the crime in Butler County Court on Wednesday.

Richard D. Sallade, 72, pleaded guilty to charges of felony corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of illegal activity and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance before county Judge William Shaffer.

The plea agreement calls for a sentence in the minimum of nine- to 16-month range, which is up to the judge at the time of sentencing July 25.

Sallade was originally charged with eight felonies by the state Attorney General's Office Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, of which the other charges were dismissed due to the plea, after incidents between May 1, 2012, and Nov. 20, 2014.

Authorities allege Sallade was involved in the distribution of synthetic marijuana after the compounds had become controlled substances under 2012 legislation, money laundering and facilitating transactions using proceeds of illegal activity out of his office building in Cranberry Township.

Sallade's attorney, Stephen Misko, also informed the court that a forfeiture order was part of the deal, as the terms were negotiated with the plea, and would be handled at the time of sentencing.

He was charged alongside Patricia A. Quinn, 69, also of Cranberry. They are accused of receiving large shipments of synthetic marijuana from out of state and arranging for it to be distributed to customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio between late 2012 and November 2014.

The distribution allegedly occurred in an empty storefront in Piazza Plaza on Route 19. Sallade owned and operated the Glass Gone Wow, formerly called Glass Gone Wild and Tobacco For Less, in the same plaza.

Fourteen undercover purchases were made from Craig W. Pfister, of Prospect, between September 2013 and November 2014, eventually leading to Bruce A. Johnson, of Monaca, Beaver County, who allegedly was storing synthetic marijuana in two storage lockers in Vanport, Beaver County.

Both Pfister and Johnson began cooperating with police, leading authorities to Sallade and Quinn.

Johnson testified during the preliminary hearing that he would regularly pick up synthetic marijuana from Sallade at an empty storefront in the same plaza as Glass Gone Wow and deliver it to two “accounts” in Ohio, and after shipments from Florida were intercepted at the UPS center, he started driving to Boston, New York City, Newark, N.J., and Harrisburg to pick up synthetic marijuana from contacts,

He stored it in his storage lockers in Vanport and would deliver it to accounts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and to agent Johnson, he said.

Sallade would arrange the distribution and keep inventory, but did not have contact with the drugs, he said.

Following search warrants, a total of more than 360 pounds of synthetic marijuana, carrying an estimated street value of $1.6 million, was seized from a storage unit and from several packages intercepted at a UPS facility in Jackson Township, according to previous reports.

Police determined that eight packages were sent from Tampa, Florida, to both the Tobacco for Less store and the UPS facility.

Also in 2014, police searched Sallade and Quinn's apartment and found about $190,000 in cash. Another $228,000 was seized from a bank account.

Quinn awaits a status conference on Aug. 7, jury selection on Sept. 7 and trial beginning Sept. 18. Johnson and Pfister both also await further court action.