Schaumburg drug suspect faces federal charges

Kane County prosecutors Tuesday dismissed their case against a suspected drug dealer who is now facing more serious charges in federal court.

Thavatxay "Todd" Manirat, 34, of the 900 block of Parker Drive, Schaumburg, was indicted earlier this month by a federal grand jury on possession of a controlled substance charges alleging he sold, distributed or dispensed BZP, a substance that had not yet been outlawed in Illinois when he was arrested in Elgin last summer.

Although Manirat had pleaded guilty last month to possessing a look-alike substance in Kane County, Assistant State's Attorney Kelly Orland said, the state elected to dismiss the case in light of the more serious federal charges.

"The feds can do a lot more to him than we can," she said.

Authorities have said Manirat offered to sell 14,000 ecstasy pills to undercover agents from the North Central Narcotics Task Force for $64,000 last year in a scheme that involved drug houses in Elgin and St. Charles. But the substance later turned out to be BZP, a drug Orland said has a slightly different chemical makeup than ecstasy and was not illegal in Illinois until January.

Federal law, however, prohibited the possession and distribution of BZP at the time Manirat was arrested, which is what led to the federal charges, Orland said.

"Chemically, (the substances) are a little different, but it's basically the same thing," she said. "He may not have even known it was BZP rather than ecstasy."

Court records show Manirat pleaded not guilty to the new charges at a hearing last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Defense attorney Sandra Byrd, who represented Manirat in Kane County, said she doesn't expect to counsel him in federal court. She had no further comment.

Manirat's criminal background includes a 1996 conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender. The victim was 20 and he was 30, according to public records.

• Daily Herald staff writer Christy Gutowski contributed to this report.