Grayslake restaurant owners indicted on drug trafficking charges
Three brothers have been indicted by a Lake County grand jury for allegedly running a drug ring out of the Grayslake and Waukegan restaurants they own, officials said Friday.
Elias Papandreou, 27, of the 3000 block of Augusta Road in Wadsworth, Kostatino “Gus” Papandreou, 34, of the 39000 block of Route 41 in Wadsworth, and Jack Papandreou, 33, now incarcerated in federal prison, face various counts of felony criminal drug conspiracy, Waukegan Police Cmdr. Gabriel Guzman said.
The Papandreou brothers are accused of selling drugs out of their Jack’s Pizza & Burgers emporiums at 500 Center Street in Grayslake, and 1000 N. Green Bay Road in Waukegan, Guzman said.
Only Elias Papandreou has been arrested so far, Guzman said. In addition to the brothers, 16 others were indicted and a task force is working to round up the suspects, he added.
Both restaurants in Grayslake and Waukegan were open for business Friday afternoon.
Guzman said investigators have long heard rumors that drugs were sold to restaurant customers, prompting an investigation by Waukegan police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in September 2010.
DEA agents conducted undercover purchases of drugs at both locations, while tipsters working inside the establishments fed information to authorities on the outside, he said.
“People could order carry out food, then would purchase drugs when picking up the pizza,” Guzman said. “Other times, well-known customers would order a pizza and have cocaine delivered with it.”
During the lengthy investigation, police seized about four pounds of cocaine from the eateries, along with smaller amounts of Vicodin and Ecstasy, he said.
Estimated street value of all the narcotics involved totaled about $160,000, Guzman said.
Investigators brought their cases to the grand jury earlier this month, and the charges of felony criminal drug conspiracy were approved Thursday night, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne Willett said.
Willett said all suspects face the most-serious Class X felonies that carry a range of 15 to 60 years in prison for a conviction. Bond for each suspect has been set at $500,000, authorities said.
“This operation... we targeted mid- to upper-level drug dealers who have flaunted their illicit activities for years,” Waukegan Police Chief Daniel Greathouse said. “This criminal element has long been a thorn in the side of the Waukegan Police Department and through the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Waukegan Police Department, we were able to infiltrate this guarded crew.”
Police said the three brothers all have criminal histories and served time behind bars for drug possession and distribution.
“The tentacles of drug trafficking spread throughout all the (Chicago) area, bringing with it negative influences we all suffer from,” said Jack Riley, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Chicago field division. “With the joint effort of the Waukegan Police Department and the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, we’ve severed another complex drug distribution network.”
Jack’s Pizza & Burgers of Grayslake Inc. is considered “not in good standing” with the Illinois secretary of state’s office because it hasn’t paid $103.50 to file annual corporation documents by the May 1 deadline, agency spokesman Dave Druker said.
Anna Papandreou, who couldn’t be reached for comment, was listed as Jack’s president on secretary of state documents. Her Wadsworth address was the same as Elias Papandreou.
Jack’s is known for its large, one-topping pizza special for $7.99 and recently started offering breakfast in Grayslake. Great Lakes Naval Station is on the delivery zone list for Jack’s in Waukegan.
ŸDaily Herald staff writer Bob Susnjara contributed to this report.