Pubdate: Thu, 17 May 2001
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2001 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Fran Spielman, City Hall Reporter

DID STATE FUNDS GO FOR POT?

The wife of a man charged with running one of the city's most sophisticated 
marijuana-growing operations is the head of a gang-fighting neighborhood 
group that hands out anti-drug fliers.

Jennifer McQueary's Brighton Park Neighborhood Council has been at the 
forefront of the war on gangs and drugs on Chicago's Southwest Side, but 
now Ald. Ray Frias (12th) wants to know if McQueary wrongfully used 
government grant money.

"Here's an organization that's supposed to be fighting gangs and dope, the 
most pressing concerns in our community. That's the cornerstone of their 
existence. To find out that they're manufacturing cannabis in the home of 
the president of that organization--I was floored," Frias said.

Last Saturday, Michael McQueary, 36, the husband of the woman who serves as 
president of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, was arrested and 
accused of operating what police called one of the city's most 
sophisticated marijuana-growing operations.

Allegedly growing hydroponically in pods in the McQueary home in the 4400 
block of South Washtenaw were 350 marijuana plants. Special growing lights 
were installed in the basement, on the second floor and in the attic. Logs 
were kept to detail the growth of each plant, police said.

The house was insulated and vented to reduce the smell, but that didn't 
prevent two police officers cruising the street from following their noses 
to the McQueary home. Neighbors had complained earlier about the pungent 
odor emanating from the home, only to have Michael McQueary tell police he 
was raising hedgehogs, officials said.

The neighborhood group has held anti-crime marches and community meetings. 
It has pushed for stepped-up crackdowns against public drinking, curfew 
violators and local drug houses, funded in part by a $50,000 block club 
organizing grant from the state.

"I'm calling for investigations by the Illinois attorney general and the 
Cook County state's attorney to determine what they've done with the public 
money they got to make certain it wasn't used to run an illegal drug 
operation," Frias said.

Jennifer and Michael McQueary could not be reached for comment.

Alex Poeter, executive director of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, 
called the allegation that government funds were used for illegal purposes 
a "complete lie." He accused the alderman of retaliating against the 
council for its many demonstrations against him.

Over the years, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council has been a political 
thorn in Frias' side. The group has picketed his office, demanding that 
Frias move more quickly to install a traffic light at the accident-prone 
intersection of 36th and California. The group got its $50,000 grant from 
former state Rep. Sonia Silva (D-Chicago), who was defeated with the 
alderman's help.

"We have done protests. We have tried to put pressure on him, and this 
smear campaign is the response," Poeter said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom