Des Plaines brothers face drug charges

Two Des Plaines brothers were ordered held on $125,000 bail Wednesday on drug possession and armed violence charges.

Carlos Ortiz, 33, and his brother Danny Ortiz, 29, were at a Rosemont steakhouse Tuesday when an off-duty police officer contacted Rosemont police, said Cook County assistant state's attorney David Mennie. Officers noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from Carlos Ortiz's backpack, which was beneath his chair, Mennie said. After opening the backpack, they recovered two bottles of prescription pills in his name, seven grams of suspected marijuana, 26 hydrocodone tablets and a loaded .38-caliber revolver, Mennie said.

Carlos Ortiz is charged with armed violence and possession of a controlled substance. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison. At the time of his arrest, he was on parole for a 2014 conviction for possession of a controlled substance. He was also convicted of the unlawful use of a weapon.

Danny Ortiz, who was also on parole, is charged with possession and possession with intent to distribute. If convicted, he faces a minimum 15-year prison sentence based on five felony convictions, Mennie said. Danny Ortiz received a three-year prison sentence in 2014 for drug possession. He was sentenced to probation for a 2011 drug charge and received a three-year prison sentence for aggravated battery in 2009. In 2008, he was sentenced to three years in prison for resisting a peace officer. And in 2002, he was sentenced to six years in prison for kidnapping.

They next appear in court on Feb. 13.