ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP)—A reputed drug smuggler plans to appeal his conviction on charges he conspired to smuggle tons of marijuana from Mexico to the Midwest during the past five years.

Antonio Franco, 32, was convicted Tuesday by a jury in U.S. District Court, but defense attorney William Swano said he plans to appeal.

Franco, was one of 35 people indicted last June on charges of drug smuggling and distribution.

The jurors deliberated less than four hours before returning the verdict.

Judge Stanley Roszkowski set sentencing for May 12. Franco faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $4 million fine, said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Zuba.

In the week-long trial, witnesses and written records told how a one-man marijuana business blossomed into a network that distributed the drug throughout the Midwest and reaped millions in profits.

Swano and fellow defense attorney Tony Canales of Corpus Christi, Texas, presented no witnesses.

According to testimony, Franco had to borrow money for his first marijuana-hauling trip from Mexico to Rockford in 1982, which he made in an old car fitted with a secret compartment.

The business grew to include a fleet of cars and vans with false ceilings, which were used to haul hundreds of pounds of marijuana at a time, according to evidence.

By June 19, 1987, when Franco was arrested, he was living in McAllen, Texas, in a $160,000 house with a swimming pool, prosecutors said.