Lake County man charged after police find weed, opioid pills, loaded AK-47 during traffic stop

A Lake County man faces charges after DeKalb police say during a traffic stop they found him with three bags of marijuana, eight Oxycodone pills and a loaded AK-47 in his car.

Javarius Shell, 23, of the 36000 block of North Eagle Court in Ingleside, is charged with armed violence, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm without a FOID card and unlawful possession of marijuana. If convicted of the most serious charge, armed violence, he could be sentenced to between 15 and 30 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

Shell appeared before DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Robbin Stuckert on Tuesday, when she set his bond at $30,000. He would need to post $3,000 to get out of jail, and would be placed on electronic home monitoring if released.

During his virtual court hearing from the DeKalb County Jail, Shell told Stuckert the pills weren't his.

"The pills were someone else's with a prescription," Shell said. "So if they could come in, the officer said the charges would be dropped."

According to DeKalb County court records, DeKalb police pulled over Shell for a traffic stop in the 2300 block of Sycamore Road around 11:50 p.m. Monday.

While the officer was speaking with Shell, he smelled marijuana coming from the car, records show, at which time a second officer arrived and police began to search the car. During the search, they uncovered three small bags of marijuana, about 12.5 grams in total, and another small bag with eight pills later identified as Oxycodone, an opioid commonly used for pain medication.

Officers also found a green camo backpack behind the driver's seat that held the loaded AK-47. Records show Shell told police the gun was his, and that he did not have a valid FOID card.

Shell is set for a status hearing on the charges Nov. 13.