Pot case dismissed due to lack of warrant, but 2,300 pounds of evidence will go up in smoke
An Illinois judge last week dismissed a drug case against three men, finding that police lacked legal cause to search their truck at a suburban Chicago warehouse for the 2,300 pounds of marijuana allegedly found inside.
“The police didn’t have a warrant or a definable reason to stop them,” attorney Ralph Meczyk, who represents one of the defendants in the case, told the Chicago Tribune (req. reg.). “The officers had a hunch and they said it was a consensual search, but the judge didn’t believe them.”
A spokesman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said no further efforts will be made to prosecute Fabian Ochoa, 38, Jose Miguel Espinoza, 24, and Rafael Martinez, 38, over the incident. All three men have jobs and were able to post bail earlier with legitimate funds, the newspaper reports.
A spokesman for the state police said he expects the evidence to be incinerated, once a court order issues. The 2,300 pounds of marijuana would be worth about $6 million, according to the Tribune.
