Over 20 pounds of pot seized, 2 arrested in Kane County mail package bust

Two men were charged in late December after accepting a package containing marijuana, and authorities seized more than 20 pounds of drugs worth an estimated $200,000, according to the Kane County sheriff's department and court records.

Benjamin M. Wright, 23, and Timothy E. Reynolds, 30, are free after posting bond and are due in Kane County court Friday on numerous felony charges, the most severe of which is cannabis trafficking, which carries up to a 30-year prison term with no possibility of probation.

Both men were arrested after authorities flagged a suspicious package to be delivered to a Geneva hotel that a person staying there was supposed to pick up.

Lt. Pat Gengler, spokesman for the sheriff's department, said the package was delivered to Wright and Reynolds at about 4:40 p.m. Dec. 21 and that they then went back to Wright's residence on the 0-99 block of Johnson Court in North Aurora. Detectives had obtained a search warrant for the North Aurora address in anticipation of the package delivery.

The mail package contained 4,617 grams of marijuana, or about 10 pounds, Gengler said. Another 1,926 grams, or 4.25 pounds, were found inside the house, along with 254 grams of edible THC brownies and six hydrocodone pills, Gengler said.

Detectives also learned a second package was to be delivered Dec. 22 to Wright and Reynolds at the hotel, Gengler said. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the second package, took possession of it, and found 6,500 grams of marijuana, or about 14.35 pounds, after they opened it, he said.

Overall, Wright is charged with four drug-related felonies; Reynolds, of the 1600 block of McClure Road, Aurora, is charged with three felonies.

A message left for Jeffrey Evers, who court records list as the defense attorney for both men, was not immediately returned.