Carpentersville man sentenced to 7 years prison for pot, cash seized from storage locker

A Carpentersville man was sentenced to seven years in prison this week after pleading guilty to a 2016 bust in which 82 pounds of marijuana and $191,300 were found in an Algonquin storage locker.

Daniel L. Forcucci, 48, will serve this sentence concurrent, or at the same time, to a five-year prison term he received last week in Kane County for a separate felony marijuana charge.

Wednesday, according to prosecutors and McHenry County court records, Forcucci pleaded guilty to one count of possession of more than 5,000 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver, a felony that carried a prison term of six to 30 years with no chance of probation.

Judge Robert Wilbrandt accepted the guilty plea, in which prosecutors dismissed other, less severe charges. Forcucci also must pay $6,345 in court fines and fees as part of the plea, records show.

Forcucci was arrested in June 2106 after authorities searched a locker he had rented at Next Door Storage and seized 37,000 grams of marijuana and the $191,300 cash.

That seizure led to a search of Forcucci's house on the 2000 block of Limestone Lane, where authorities found another 4,500 grams, or about 10 pounds or marijuana.

The drugs found at Forcucci's house led to felony charges in Kane County that he pleaded guilty to last week and was sentenced to five years in prison.

McHenry County Assistant State's Attorney Robert Ladd said the sentences are to be served concurrently. Ladd said the marijuana seized from the storage locker had a street value ranging from $202,000 to $736,000, depending on if it was sold by the pound or the gram.

Ladd said $10,000 of the money found in the storage locker was used to pay Forcucci's legal fees and the remaining $181,300 was forfeited to the state.

Defense attorney Sam Amirante said last week that his client has accepted responsibility for his actions and hoped to be a productive member of society when his sentences were complete.

At the time of his 2016 arrest, Forcucci was on probation after pleading guilty to a case from 2013 in which police found 30 pounds of marijuana in his Carpentersville house.

Authorities were called to Forcucci's house for a domestic dispute between Forcucci and his girlfriend.

Officers saw marijuana and paraphernalia in plain sight in the house and returned with a search warrant.