Top Kane prosecutor: Synthetic pot still a suburban problem
More than five years ago, a 19-year-old Aurora teen who bought synthetic marijuana from a tobacco shop died after crashing his car into a North Aurora home.
The death of Max Dobner in June 2011 spurred laws banning synthetic marijuana and prompted his mother to start a foundation, To The Maximus, to educate people about the danger of synthetic pot.
Earlier this month, Kane County prosecutors said they secured their most significant synthetic marijuana conviction of an Elgin man for selling the drug out of his Algonquin tobacco shop in 2013.
John G. Monteleone, 48, faces six to 30 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 21.
Judge Linda Abrahamson convicted him of possession of more than 200 grams of controlled substance with intent to deliver and during trial, prosecutors said police seized more than 3,500 1-gram packages of the drug - or nearly 8 pounds - from Monteleone's wife's vehicle.
Kane County State Attorney Joe McMahon said synthetic marijuana isn't as prevalent as other drugs, but "it's still a problem.
"(The drugs) are entirely unregulated. The potency of one dose to another can vary greatly. Synthetic marijuana brings in other chemicals that often have dangerous hallucinogenic effects on a person's brain," McMahon said, calling Dobner's death "a tragic outcome."
McMahon said his office takes a different approach to low-level users facing possession charges through treatment and pretrial diversion as opposed to someone who is distributing it.
"This is a significant amount of synthetic marijuana in the Monteleone case," McMahon said.
Monteleone's attorney, Edward Edens, said he plans to appeal the conviction.
Edens noted his client has no previous criminal offenses and argued Monteleone had researched the "herbal supplements" and thought they were legal.