Expert: Samples from Algonquin shop contained synthetic marijuana
An Illinois State Police forensic scientist testified Tuesday that 220 one-gram packets of a plantlike material seized in 2013 after the arrest of an Algonquin tobacco shop owner contained chemical compounds associated with synthetic marijuana.
John G. Monteleone, 47, of Elgin is on trial in Kane County this week on charges of possession of 200 grams or more of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
Members of the North Central Narcotics Task Force, a division of the state police, conducted a three-month investigation before seizing 168 one-gram packages of synthetic marijuana from King Puff-N-Stuff in October 2013 and 3,582 one-gram packages from the car of Monteleone's wife, Tracy, 45, outside their home. Authorities estimated the value of the seized drugs at $65,000.
John Monteleone faces 12 to 60 years in prison on the drug charges and opted for bench trial in front of Kane County Judge Linda Abrahamson.
Martin Skelcy, the state police forensic scientist, testified that he performed tests on some 220 one-gram packages of materials seized by authorities and all contained compounds found in synthetic marijuana that are illegal under federal law.
Skelcy said he compared the spectrum of gases released from the material he tested with the state police's library of banned substances.
"In my opinion this is a very good match. I look at it as a whole," Skelcy said. "I look at it as a pattern, like a fingerprint. I do not have a normal value that I put on it. I don't say, 'OK, this is a 95 percent match.'"
Monteleone's defense attorney Edward Edens suggested Skelcy used "subjective determinations" as to whether a sample contained illegal compounds.
At the time of Monteleone's arrest, Edens also said his client didn't intend to sell synthetic marijuana and that Monteleone was told by his supplier that the "potpourri" was legal for sale.
Tracy Monteleone pleaded guilty in October 2015 to a reduced charge of possession of more than 200 grams of a controlled substance and was sentenced to the maximum four years of probation and assessed $15,660 in fines and court costs, records show. If she violates her probation, she could be resentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
The trial is expected to conclude this week.