The Dec. 10 Fence Post question concerning drug testing of high school students provides ample food for thought about the state of our educational system. The problem of drugs in school has not been solved by the "war on drugs" and "just say no" campaigns. Mandatory testing clearly violates the Bill of Rights and would be very difficult to reconcile with lessons pertaining to that document. Yet, voluntary testing opens up a new can of worms - that of being considered guilty simply by virtue of refusing the test. What hasn't been explored nearly enough are methods currently used to educate kids on drugs and alcohol. Various programs have taken the tack that the "scared straight" method is the best way to go - paint a picture so horrible of the consequences that kids will be too scared to try drugs. This works until a kid reaches the age of 12 or 13 and observes for himself that, contrary to what he was led to believe, people don't necessarily die or become totally debilitated as result of drug use - at least not right away. So he begins to feel he was lied to. [continues 152 words]
Sara Aeschlimann A DuPage County grand jury today will consider whether Garrett Harth caused the drug-overdose death of one of his closest friends. Harth, 21, has been under intense police scrutiny since Sara Aeschlimann overdosed last spring in the basement of his parents' Naperville home. Prosecutors Joseph Ruggiero and Justin Fitzsimmons are expected to present evidence today to a grand jury that suggests the young woman did not voluntarily ingest all of the drugs. If indicted, the charge most likely would be involuntary manslaughter. [continues 376 words]
Governmental bodies in Cook County spend four times as much money on drug enforcement than they do on drug treatment and prevention, yet illegal drug use continues to rise, according to a new study to be released today. Of the nearly $1.2 billion spent by federal, state and local governments to combat drugs locally in 1997 - the most recent year analyzed - some $976 million went to arrest, incarcerate and prosecute. The remainder went to treatment and prevention, according to the three-year study done by Roosevelt University's Institute for Metropolitan Affairs. [continues 396 words]
Most of us think of drug production as something that happens in Colombia. However, drug labs are springing up in Illinois faster than subdivisions in the suburbs. In 1997, authorities discovered 24 illegal labs producing methamphetamine. In 1999, they nabbed 246 such labs. That's a tenfold increase in just two years. It gets worse. The Illinois State Police expect to seize more than 400 labs this year. The problem is growing because methamphetamine is relatively easy to make. It is also addictive. [continues 105 words]
Gurnee police say there was a fivefold increase this year in the number of Six Flags Great America visitors who wanted to get high on something other than a tall roller coaster. Visitors had to pass through metal detectors before entering the park for the second consecutive season. Park officials said they placed the detectors at the main gate in an attempt to prevent patrons from slipping in with weapons. As it happens, security workers have wound up finding guests with marijuana on them after a metal detector is tripped by a large belt buckle, for example. Such guests are turned over to a Gurnee police officer stationed near the front entrance. [continues 245 words]
The presentation on "club drugs" was an education for Lake Forest resident Suzanne Zimmerman. During a recent two-hour talk, Zimmerman and other parents learned about the popularity of the drugs, their effects and the dangers they pose to users. "I'm going to talk to my children and tell them a few things I learned today," Zimmerman vowed. Co-sponsored by Lake Forest-based LEAD (Leading Edge Against Drugs) and State Rep. Susan Garrett, the program featured state police from a task force on illegal drugs, gangs and weapons. [continues 306 words]
Des Plaines elementary school officials will survey eighth-grade students on their attitudes towards drug and alcohol use. Within the next four weeks, Des Plaines Elementary District 62 officials will administer a 99 multiple-choice question survey to 459 eighth-grade students. The survey was developed by the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University. District 62 officials said they agreed to conduct the survey because Maine Township High School District 207 would be able survey its students for free if the feeder school systems agreed. [continues 244 words]
The Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board Thursday approved a policy that will allow students to be tested for drugs on a voluntary basis in their high school. Board members, who say they hope the policy can at least help some families address issues of substance abuse, unanimously approved the policy though the district's high schools may not unanimously support it. It will be up to each individual school to decide whether to participate in the program. Schools deciding to participate can start as soon as they receive the test kits. [continues 250 words]
Teens today are using drugs at a level not seen since the 1970s, an area expert says. The age of the average kid who tries drugs is falling. Teens are vulnerable, Northwest Community Hospital psychologist Mario Giacomuzzi says. They're crammed into school buildings, 2,000 or 3,000 of them together, trying to fit in and feel comfortable at a somewhat awkward time in their lives. What should parents do? "Realize every teenager is at risk today," he said. "No parent wants to think their kid's using. No parent even wants to think their kid is at risk. ... But take an active role in your kids' lives. Get to know your kids. Get to know their friends." [continues 283 words]
Cocaine still flows freely from the jungles of Colombia to the streets of the cities and suburbs. Despite the fact that billions of dollars have been spent over the years on drug interdiction efforts in Colombia, 90 percent of the cocaine on the U.S. illegal drug market comes from this South American nation. And make no mistake, this cocaine makes its way here. Earlier this year, 30 grams of cocaine were seized in a drug bust in Carpentersville that netted the arrest of 14 people. In recent months, dealers or alleged cocaine dealers also have been arrested in McHenry County, Elgin, Naperville, Villa Park, Vernon Hills, Streamwood and elsewhere throughout the suburbs. [continues 304 words]
The death of a Buffalo Grove High School student from a presumed heroin overdose is shocking - shocking for the loss of a promising young man and shocking for the presence of a drug to which suburban police and parents have given little thought. Everyone knows that far too many suburban teens drink and that some use marijuana and, more recently, Ecstasy and other drugs popular on the club scene. Those known factors are sufficiently disturbing. But heroin? Any serious heroin influx would take concerns about the region's drug problems to a new level. Fortunately, there is no indication that this highly addictive and dangerous drug is gaining a broad foothold in the suburbs. Suburban police say they rarely see it at all, and educators seem to agree. Some suburban teens say any drug is available for a price, but even they don't seem to be aware of any real surge in heroin use among their peers. [continues 54 words]
There has been an alarming growth in the popularity of a dangerous club drug known as ecstasy. The Drug Enforcement Administration reports that abuse of ecstasy has increased 500 percent over five years. The drug has made its way into the suburbs. Police departments have made arrests of ecstasy dealers. And two Chicago-area youngsters died after taking what they believed were ecstasy pills. Instead, the pills turned out to be a lethal drug called PMA. In response to these alarming developments, legislators are pushing new measures to try to get ecstasy off the streets. U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert's bill to provide tougher punishment of club drug dealers likely will be approved by the House this fall. It would greatly increase the maximum sentence for trafficking ecstasy. [continues 70 words]
I noticed with great interest that many of those involved with promoting and hosting rock concerts at area facilities oppose "The Parents Empowerment Act," a recently introduced bill in the state Senate, which would allow parents to sue those who knowingly allow anyone under the age of 18 to use illegal drugs on their property. The Illinois State Crime Commission worked with state Senator Patrick O'Malley, a Palos Park Republican, the bill's sponsor, in developing the proposal, which is recorded as SB 1964. As the commission's executive director, I can tell you that some concert promoters have good reason to be concerned about O'Malley's bill. [continues 213 words]
Somewhere out there a young person is going to be offered a drug, called Ecstasy, that is supposed to make her feel real good. Taking it, though, could be the biggest mistake that kid will ever make, and not just because taking Ecstasy or any other drug is wrong for so many reasons. In this case, it could kill her. What kids think is Ecstasy could be something else. It could be something called PMA. If they take this drug, they could die. [continues 361 words]
Springfield - Thin, marijuana look-alike cigarettes will be illegal to sell to anyone regardless of age under a law signed Friday by Gov. George Ryan. The cigarettes imported from India are called bidis, which come in a variety of candy flavors, already are illegal to sell in the city of Chicago, and Evanston recently passed an ordinance banning them as well. Bidis, pronounced "beedies," already were regulated like regular cigarettes, but critics charged they were marketed to teenagers and easily accessible. [continues 96 words]
Lake County police demonstrated Tuesday they follow through on suspects who try to evade the law. Starting at 5:30 a.m., teams of police visited the homes of people wanted on arrest warrants to hunt them down. All those sought had evaded the law in drug cases. Some had been charged but failed to appear in court; some had posted bond but had not shown up again in court; and others had been convicted but failed to show up for their sentencing hearings. [continues 139 words]
If young people don't know it by now, they should - taking the drug Ecstasy is idiocy. For one, Ecstasy is being blamed, directly or indirectly, for the deaths of at least two Chicago-area teens in recent weeks. An 18-year-old Naperville girl died of an overdose after taking a drug that resembled Ecstasy. For another, law enforcement is cracking down on Ecstasy dealers, evidence of which is the investigation by the Palatine Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff's Department. It resulted in 11 arrests of people accused of selling Ecstasy to undercover officers at a teen nightclub in Palatine. [continues 317 words]
The governor of New Mexico is speaking on television of legalizing marijuana. This would be the way for the United States to go. A woman on television said it would upset the economy. Whose economy? New Mexico's, because they grow it? Look back at what happened during our Prohibition era of beer and alcohol. Al Capone and his competitors grew rich. Let's try it the legal way. Mildred E. Chekytis Naperville [end]
Since the mid-1990s, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has been warning of an increase in Ritalin abuse among the nation's teens. Fifteen students at Lake Zurich Middle School North are suspected of abusing the prescription drug Ritalin. According to details of the investigation of this incident, students gave away the tablets or sold them for 50 cents to $1. This isn't shocking to law enforcement and drug abuse experts, because they know this isn't a problem unique to this particular school. Since the mid-1990s, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has been warning of an increase in Ritalin abuse among the nation's teens. [continues 309 words]
A committee studying Buffalo Grove-Long Grove Elementary District 96's drug resistance program recommended several changes Tuesday, including possibly eliminating the program from the third grade. The committee, consisting of one administrator, three teachers and one parent, took three months to evaluate the Drug Abuse Resistance Education and Violence Education and Gang Awareness programs taught by the Buffalo Grove Police Department. It came up with the same evaluation that many researchers on the national level did - "that there is no significant evidence that the program is successful in deterring young people from substance use," according to a memo from the committee. [continues 197 words]
One of DuPage County's most decorated police officers was indicted Wednesday on charges of theft and official misconduct. Bensenville police Sgt. Joe De Anda, a nearly 20-year department veteran, was charged with one count of felony theft and six counts of official misconduct. DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett announced the grand jury indictment Wednesday. "It's a sad day when charges are brought against a police officer or any public employee," Birkett said. Authorities allege that on six occasions between January 1995 and July 1996, De Anda, 48, removed a total of $6,019 in cash from the department that had been seized during gambling and drugs investigations. [continues 465 words]
Welcome to your newly redesigned Opinion Page. Regular readers will immediately see this page is a significant departure for the Dail Herald, one we're confident will serve you well and help us reach several specific goals. First, we want to give greater prominence to letters to the editor. We have observed over the years that letters are the most popular element of the page, with good reason. When readers put their thoughts on paper - responding to news stories, Daily Herald editorials, colunms and each other - the result is a forum that is both the lifeblood of the editorial page and the very essence of the free exchange of ideas so vital to a democratic society. [continues 251 words]
The Illinois Senate and House of Representatives have before them "industrial hemp" bills. These bills have serious implications for increasing drug use. Hemp and marijuana are the same plant, cannabis sativa, which has the psychoactive ingredient, THC. It is being suggested that "industrial hemp" could be a vital, new crop for Illinois farmers. Yet, according to a new USDA report, there is only a negligible market for hemp. "Given the average size of farms in the United States (about 500 acres), just a few farms could have supplied the hemp fiber and seed equivalent of 1999 import levels." "Industrial hemp" and marijuana look alike, and short of chemical analysis, there is no way to discriminate between the two. Today, people clear patches in the middle of corn fields and grow marijuana plants, hidden from passers-by. If hemp is allowed to be grown in Illinois, then certainly high levels of THC in cultivated marijuana plants will also be growing. The demands on law enforcement will be tremendous. [continues 269 words]
In the wake of a suburban teen's fatal overdose last month and 11 arrests in an undercover sting, state and federal legislators are proposing stiffer penalties for dealing so-called club drugs. Illinois House Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst is proposing a bill to make the sale of 15 or more grams of Ecstasy a Class X felony, meaning convicted sellers would face six to 30 years in jail. Under existing laws, a dealer could be charged with selling more than 900 doses of the drug and still receive probation. [continues 448 words]
SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. - They were spotted from the air, as conspicuous as sharks in a school of guppies: Three plots of land, seemingly stripped of the towering oaks and manzanitas that shroud this patch of Southern California forest. These were not natural formations. They were entirely man-made - and entirely illegal. A week after the August sighting, a helicopter returned with two dozen Forest Service agents and sheriff's detectives. They cleared a landing pad and cut a trail into the site, coming first to a makeshift reservoir. Six hoses, filtering water from a creek, ran in one end; several more snaked back out the other. [continues 1301 words]
Palatine Mayor Rita L. Mullins has come up with an idea she considers a "no brainer." Why shouldn't the government administer drug tests to inmates on the verge of being released from jail? Mullins said she would like to see federal legislation passed that requires convicts being released from jail to take drug tests - through urine or blood - on that day. If an inmate tests positive for things like marijuana or cocaine, he or she would stay in custody until becoming clean and sober. [continues 208 words]
The following is an edited version of a letter recently sent to residents by the Bensenville village board: Dear Bensenville Residents: Over the last several months, the village board has had the unpleasant task of correcting several serious problems of illegal and improper conduct by a number of Bensenville police officers. This letter gives you a summary of the background and findings of the investigation by the village's special outside counsel. In early 1998, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid on a Bensenville tavern called Club Latino, seeking evidence relating to narcotics trafficking and official police misconduct. The news media raised questions as to whether there was any conflict of interest by a senior Bensenville police officer whose parents owned the tavern. [continues 421 words]
In their battle against the drug trade, DuPage County narcotics investigators this year took a new tactic: tattling. Over several months this summer and fall, officers with the DuPage County Metropolitan Enforcement Group took down the license plate numbers of suburbanites who drove to a Chicago neighborhood to buy heroin. Then each of the registered owners received a letter, notifying them their vehicle had been used in a West Side drug deal. "A lot of them were really thankful we wrote them letters," DuMEG director Mark Henry said. [continues 238 words]
Driving past the billboard at highway speed, Michele Somerville saw what most people see: a prominently displayed marijuana leaf and the equally large word "hemp." Like most people, what the Harvard mom didn't note was the company name - Alterna - the shampoo bottle, and the words "Drug Free." "When I first read it I thought - and this is going to sound crazy - that it was (medical marijuana) for terminally ill people," she said. Somerville's review is one of the more benign. [continues 1043 words]
Mom, daughter and a day full of rides and fun planned at Six Flags Great America. Except in at least one case this year, the mother happens to be carrying a partial marijuana cigarette as she tries to enter the Gurnee amusement park with her young daughter. Security personnel are alerted as new metal detectors are tripped. The devices can pick up anything from a large belt buckle to a knife. A subsequent search at an on-site Gurnee police office resulted in the discovery of the marijuana in the mother's possession, hidden in a cigarette pack, police said. [continues 646 words]
A no-contact body scanning machine will offer an alternative to pat-downs at O'Hare International Airport, in response to recent allegations that U.S. Customs inspectors target and humiliate minorities. U.S. Commissioner of Customs Raymond Kelly on Monday unveiled O'Hare's new BodySearch imaging system, a 12-foot, 2-ton X-ray device that reveals in eight seconds any object a person may be carrying under his or her clothing. The high-tech scanners, which can expose narcotics, currency, plastic explosives and plastic weapons, have been or will be installed at 13 major international airports. New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and airports in Miami and Los Angeles already have them. [continues 467 words]
A 23-year-old Elk Grove Village man pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he manufactured more than 1,100 pounds of a dangerous but increasingly popular drug among teens in the suburbs. John Keith Dilg was the first person in the Chicago area to face federal charges for making massive quantities of the drug known as GHB, or the date rape drug. Dilg made the drug at his parent's Elk Grove Village home and at his apartment at Southern Illinois University in what authorities said was one of the largest GHB productions they've ever witnessed. [continues 1037 words]
Suburban police departments have a limited number of officers, and they're always looking for ways to stretch their manpower. They want police to spend their time patrolling rather than filling out forms. For this reason, Bartlett, which straddles Cook, Kane and DuPage counties, and Hawthorn Woods in Lake County studied the idea of police giving tickets, similar to traffic tickets, to offenders who possess 10 grams of marijuana or less. Police would spend only about 10 minutes writing a ticket for a village ordinance violation, as opposed to two hours hauling the offender into the police station and processing them. [continues 298 words]
The Bartlett Village Board has approved a law allowing police officers to issue village tickets for minor marijuana offenses. The ordinance, which was requested by several police officers, would enable the department to enforce marijuana laws while and keep officers on the street as much as possible, Police Chief Dan Palmer said. "It gives the officers another option," he said. The driving concern behind the measure is time. Arresting and processing an offender on a state marijuana charge can take as long as two hours, Palmer said. [continues 189 words]
Christmas was quickly approaching. Robert West needed cash fast. With a house full of kids, a wife and, lacking even a high school diploma, West was locked into one dead-end job after another. He knew how to get the money, though. The Glendale Heights man would fall back on a trade he had honed since a kid. "It really was just driving me back to the only thing I could do - selling drugs," he said. "I had all this pressure. It was an easy opportunity." [continues 1111 words]
Chances are the carpool mom who makes a turn against a red light isn't a member of a gang, coming from a drug buy or carrying a semi-automatic under her seat. But if an Elgin police officer sees her, she's going to get stopped. The approach may seem ridiculous to some, who argue that in the wake of a recent rash of violent gang crimes, Elgin police surely have something more important to do. But that's the essence of the zero tolerance policy city officials outlined this week: Anyone and everyone caught breaking the law in Elgin - no matter how minor the infraction - will be stopped and questioned. [continues 448 words]
It's time to declare a cease-fire in the unwinnable marijuana conflict that has become the Vietnam of our national War on Drugs. Our government wastes taxpayers' money and limited police and court resources going after Americans whose only crime is smoking pot. "I don't see why they don't decriminalize it," concurs Wheaton lawyer Jeffrey B. Fawell, a member of the legal committee for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Fawell, 47, says he doesn't use pot but was drawn to the cause in the course of defending folks he doesn't consider criminals. [continues 552 words]
Many area students learn how to say no to drugs and violence through local DARE programs at school. But few get to go off to a special DARE camp, to be seen as representatives of their schools' programs. Schiesher School fifth-grader Ashley Valentine of Lisle will get that chance in July. Ashley, a DARE graduate, was chosen by a teacher as a good candidate for the camp. Her name was then drawn out of a hat, deeming her the sole representative from Lisle Unit District 202 to attend the camp with DARE officer Colleen Reilley. [continues 103 words]
Our country, the United States of America, is assumed to be the land of the free. However, one hidden law, civil forfeiture, has been robbing us of our constitutional rights. Civil forfeiture laws are now being used more and more to take innocent citizens' property. Federal and local law enforcement agencies have the right to seize your home, car, money - without arrest. They need only "probable cause." They may keep your property by charging it with a crime, and since objects have no civil rights, it is nearly impossible to prove it innocent. [continues 194 words]
Civil forfeiture laws are now being used more and more to take innocent citizens' property. Federal and local law enforcement agencies have the right to seize your home, car, money - without arrest. They need only "probable cause." They may keep your property by charging it with a crime, and since objects have no civil rights, it is nearly impossible to prove it innocent. Civil forfeiture violates your constitutional rights. It provides incentive for law officials to continue to seize innocent Americans' property. [continues 170 words]
No Ifs, Ands Or Butts About It. Those animal billboards posted along the region's highways probably won't persuade many drivers to kick smoking habits, experts say. But, hopefully, Daddy or Mommy will have one or more kids in the back seat. "They're really geared toward younger children. ... People think they're funny," said Janet Williams, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Coalition Against Tobacco. But do the ads really work? Dan Curry, a spokesman for Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, had doubts when he first was called in to review "Butts Are Gross" and a second ad with animals smoking that declares "It Looks Just As Stupid When You Do It." [continues 361 words]
A legislative proposal that aims to ban the distribution of marijuana- related information from the Internet could affect the Illinois State Crime Commission's efforts to educate parents about illegal drugs, if it is approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Ryan. The measure, HB 792, would make it illegal for anyone to transmit "cannabis information" through the Internet. If the measure is approved, offenders could face up to a year in jail. A recent article on the measure reported that HB 792 has raised concerns about free speech and the practicality of enforcing the poorly worded proposal. In fact, supporters of the measure admit that HB 792 contains a number of "gray areas" that will have to be addressed by the courts. The bill's supporters also acknowledge that, if approved, the law might be misinterpreted and misapplied. [continues 191 words]
It's that time of year again ... struggling to find receipts, always having just the wrong form, wondering whether your calculations are correct ... in short, it's tax time. Dealing with the Internal Revenue Service is never at the top of anyone's fun list, and you can't help but wonder where your money is going. I've never seen a nuclear attack submarine or a CIA agent, and yet there's a little piece of my paycheck invested in every one of them. [continues 248 words]
The United States is not only the world's leading economic and military power, it is rapidly closing in on No. 1 in another category: number of citizens incarcerated. Justice Department officials say the nation's prison population has doubled in only 12 years, and the United States, with 1.8 million people behind bars, now has higher rate of incarceration than any other nation for which such statistics are kept - except Russia. With twice as many people locked up, are we twice as safe as we were 12 years ago? Clearly, law-abiding Americans have less to worry about these days by virtually any statistical measure available. Crime rates have been declining in almost every major category and in every region of the country. [continues 325 words]
THE RACE HUSTLERS, hate mongers and assorted leftovers from failed city administrations past are ganging up on Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York. Even some Hollywood celebrities, like Susan Sarandon, are showing up to have themselves arrested outside the mayor's office, along with the usual suspects, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins. The putative reason for their protest is the mistaken shooting of African immigrant Amadou Diallo by four New York policemen. The true reason for their protest is a desire to stigmatize and therefore reverse the most amazing urban turnaround since the great Chicago fire of 1871. [continues 633 words]
She was the kind of patient most doctors dread - medical charts as thick as the Yellow Pages and a seemingly insatiable need for pain killers. "Fourteen other doctors dumped her. My challenge was not to be the 15th," said Dr. Mitchell Weisberg, a physician at Prevention Specialists in Buffalo Grove and an internist on staff at Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. When she came to his office seven years ago, the 42-year-old mother was virtually addicted to narcotic pain killers. [continues 384 words]
IT's an odd country, really. Our largest growth industries are gambling and prisons. But as you may have heard, crimes rates are dropping. We're not putting people into prison for hurting other people. We're putting them into prison for using drugs, and as we already know, that doesn't help them or us. Last year, more than 600,000 people in this country were arrested for possession of marijuana, a drug less harmful for adults than alcohol. And according to an ad campaign by Common Sense for Drug Policy, a Department of Health and Human Services study shows that less than I percent of marijuana users become regular users of cocaine or heroin. But the history of our drug policy is that there's always some new drug to be frightened of, usually associated with a feared minority group, as opium was with Asians and marijuana with Mexicans. And in the 1980s, along came crack, associated with inner-city blacks. [continues 516 words]
CHICAGO - A massive hoard of pure cocaine worth $143 million on the streets of Midwestern cities was confiscated in the Chicago Police Department's largest drug seizure ever, authorities said Wednesday. Four men, two described as high-ranking members of a Mexican cartel that specializes in smuggling cocaine over the U.S. border, were arrested Tuesday night when police swooped down on an auto detail shop. "This is a tremendous seizure, and it should have an impact on the crack cocaine dealing on the streets of Chicago," said Cmdr. Philip J. Cline, whose investigators found the drugs in the South suburban Crestwood shop. [continues 324 words]
SPRINGFIELD - A McHenry County high school student said Wednesday he has successfully fought an addiction that led him to run away from home and take money from his parents to finance his insatiable drug habit. But it was a victory that only came with a lengthy stay in a rehabilitation center. And now some advocates worry that potential new state regulations could cut short the time juveniles can spend in treatment. "I have a history of running away, breaking the law ...," said Dan, 17, a sophomore from Crystal Lake. The center "has helped me and my family a lot because I'd steal from them, run away, get high and come back and do the same thing over and over again." [continues 359 words]
A 16-year-old McHenry County youth facing drug charges recently found out he would be prosecuted as an adult. On Thursday, he was indicted by a grand jury on a Class X felony charge carrying a minimum prison term of 9 years and maximum of 40 years. Richardo Marquez, of 2077 Stonelake Drive in Woodstock, was charged with intent to deliver and possession counts involving 7 ounces of cocaine and a pound of marijuana prosecutors say was found Dec. 3 in the apartment shared by Marquez, his father, Manuel, and older brother, Manuel Jr. [continues 196 words]
