Three Busted For 80 Pounds Of Cannabis In Car
WHEATON, Ill. (STMW) -- For the second time this week, authorities in DuPage County have filed charges after uncovering drugs that were allegedly being shipped to the area from California.
Three people were arrested outside of a Lombard motel as an exchange of 80 pounds of marijuana valued at $350,000 was to occur, Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Audrey Anderson told Judge Michael Wolfe in bond court this morning.
Julian Iannino, 23, of Lombard, and Steven Brooks, 21, and Eric Krzywicki, 20, both of Redding, Calif., each were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, authorities said.
Brooks had driven a vehicle into the area when agents of the DuPage County Metropolitan Enforcement Group stopped him on Sunday and discovered the drugs, Anderson said.
Under instructions from the agents, Brooks called an unidentified person in California, who instructed him to proceed to the motel and wait for instructions. On Monday, Brooks, who spent the night at the motel under surveillance by police, was instructed by the person in California to go to the vehicle in the parking lot and wait for two people.
When Iannino and Krzywicki appeared and began taking the drugs out of the parked vehicle all three were arrested.
Wolfe set bail for Brooks and Krzywicki at $350,000 ($35,000 cash). Bail for Iannino, who had attended college in California, was set at $750,000. ($75,000 cash), Anderson said Iannino had been charged earlier this year with a similar drug trafficking crime in Chicago.
A police search of Iannino's home in the 1000 block of South Fairview Avenue in Lombard uncovered $10,000 in cash and some small amounts of marijuana, Anderson said.
Anderson said that Brooks claimed he was to be given $8,000 for driving the marijuana from California.
Gene Ognibene, a defense attorney representing Iannino, told Wolfe that his client "was merely providing a ride" for Krzywicki.
If convicted, all three face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
A Carol Stream mother of four had bail set Monday at $1 million cash after being charged with driving 20 kilos of cocaine, valued at $2 million, to the DuPage area, where she was arrested on Sunday. She had admitted driving to California several times for $4,000 to $12,000 a trip.
"For the second day in a row, my office has charged individuals with serious drug trafficking offenses," said DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin. "Drugs continue to be a problem in DuPage County and I would like to thank officials with DuMeg for their continuing efforts in keeping our neighborhoods free from drugs and the pain and heartache they can bring."
© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
