Prosecutors: Streamwood man 'habitual criminal'
Testimony began Tuesday in the drug and weapons trial of a Streamwood man who - if convicted of the felonies - could face a sentence up to life in prison.
James Utley, 37, is charged as an armed habitual offender with manufacture and delivery of heroin and cocaine and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Streamwood police Cmdr. Michael Zeigler testified he and several Streamwood officers accompanied Illinois Department of Corrections parole agents to Utley's home on the 1100 block of Fulton Drive about 6:30 a.m. Feb. 28, 2014, to execute a parole violation warrant.
Zeigler said Utley's wife consented to a search of the home and directed him to a closet in the master bedroom where he "smelled a strong odor of cannabis."
On the floor of the closet Zeigler found a small cooler, which he said contained several plastic sandwich bags containing a chunky white substance; two electric scales, scissors and packaging materials which he testified were "indicative of the sale of narcotics."
An Illinois State Police crime laboratory chemist later confirmed the plastic bags contained 78.7 grams of cocaine and 27.6 grams of heroin.
After telling Utley's wife what he found, "I asked her if there was anything else in the house," Zeigler said.
She directed him to a second master bedroom closet, from which Zeigler said he recovered a yellow and blue nylon hat bag containing a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol and a .38-caliber revolver along with ammunition, he said.
Under cross examination from defense attorney Glenn Jazwiec, Zeigler admitted he did not wear gloves during his search of the bedroom and moved the cooler and the nylon bag before fellow detective Claudio Mercado photographed the items.
IDOC parole agent Kenya Clark told jurors during her search of the master bedroom, she found Utley's wallet with his identification and Social Security card. Clark said she also recovered $1,000 in U.S. currency, a checkbook and a bank statement listing Utley's name, his wife's name and the Fulton Drive address, which authorities suggested confirmed Utley resided there.
Prosecutors, who labeled Utley a "habitual criminal," concluded their case with Mercado, who testified that Utley made a statement during a police interrogation admitting he was an ex-gang member who kept guns for protection and sold drugs to help support his family.
"He stated his wife wasn't aware of the guns or drugs," Mercado said. "He admitted the guns were his and the drugs were his."
During his opening statement, Jazwiec asked jurors to consider the evidence as a story. "A lot of times you think you know where the story is going," he said. "then something happens to change your mind."
The defense presents its case Wednesday.