Cook County sheriff’s deputies carrying out a court-ordered eviction in East Garfield Park found much more than furniture and clothing in an apartment where rent apparently wasn’t being paid.
Instead, authorities said they discovered about 4½ pounds of suspected heroin and fentanyl, hundreds of grams of crack cocaine and enough money that someone could have paid the rent and avoided the whole ordeal. Now a man who was in the apartment is facing a drug abuse charge.
On May 7 around 11:25 a.m., officers assigned to the sheriff’s eviction unit arrived at an apartment in the 3200 block of West Maypole Avenue to enforce a court order, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers met 37-year-old Jesse Williams at the door and told him they were there to carry out the eviction, officials said. When officers cleared the apartment, they reportedly saw narcotics and cash in plain sight.
Authorities said officers recovered approximately 2 kilograms of suspected heroin and fentanyl from the apartment, along with 289 grams of suspected crack cocaine and approximately $2,600 in cash. Scales, plastic bags and a drug press were also found, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators later determined that about 500 grams of the narcotics were legally in Williams’ possession, officials said. He is charged with manufacturing or delivering heroin and possession of a controlled substance.
Prosecutors did not request his arrest and he has been released pending trial.
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