Three men are now charged in connection with a cannabis trafficking organization in McHenry County where authorities have seized “well over” $1 million in assets during their investigation.
Matthew D. Lilla, 36, of the 4300 block of North Sawyer Avenue in Chicago, was charged with cannabis trafficking, unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, attempted cannabis trafficking, unlawful possession of cannabis, four counts of money laundering and calculated criminal conspiracy.
Michael Ferrante, 32, of the 11600 block of Hawthorne Way in Huntley, was charged with cannabis trafficking, attempted cannabis trafficking, unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of cannabis, money laundering and calculated criminal conspiracy.
A third suspect, Mark R. Bennett Jr., 31, of the 300 block of Council Trail in Lake in the Hills, was charged with four counts of money laundering and four counts of forgery.
A motion filed by prosecutors said the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office has been conducting an investigation over the course of the last two years into a cannabis trafficking organization within McHenry County.
Police learned Lilla was causing large amounts of cannabis to be brought into Illinois, prosecutors said.
Lilla allegedly used various storage units, industrial warehouses and houses to store drugs and proceeds from the operation.
An unnamed co-defendant and “an associate” of Lilla were stopped by police in October in North Dakota.
The two were driving a van that had 583 pounds of cannabis, prosecutors said.
The associate and the co-defendant were on the way to McHenry County when they were stopped.
The co-defendant had been in communication with Lilla, prosecutors said.
A search of a residence owned by Lilla in McHenry County that same day revealed “numerous pounds” of cannabis, cash, drug ledgers and other packaging materials.
Days prior to that search warrant, police executed search warrants on storage units rented by Lilla.
Law enforcement located almost $800,000 in cash within three separate storage units.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office has seized assets of Lilla’s worth “well over” $1 million, prosecutors said.
The sheriff’s office has been unable to locate any legitimate source of income for Lilla, who signed a mortgage application in June where he reported his income was $8,683 a month, the motion said.
That mortgage application was for a $400,000 home Lilla purchased in the 11600 block of Hawthorne Way in Huntley.
A criminal complaint said Lilla made a wire transfer of over $92,000 to complete the sale of the home, which was “used to advance his criminal drug activity.”
The complaint also said Lilla laundered between $100,000 and $500,000 and sent $50,000 to another man to “advance his criminal drug activity.”
A separate criminal complaint said Ferrante trafficked over 2,500 grams of cannabis to Illinois and attempted to traffic over 5,000 grams of cannabis to the state.
Ferrante also laundered money by depositing approximately $35,000 to multiple ATMs in McHenry County to “advance his criminal drug activity,” the complaint said.
A third criminal complaint said Bennett, the third suspect in the case, laundered money by taking possession of approximately $20,000 cash in a safe in return for providing Lilla partial ownership to an electrical contractor business in Lake in the Hills.
The cash belonged to Lilla and was proceeds from drug trafficking, the complaint said.
Bennett also purchased a Dodge truck for $20,000 and a van for $30,000 using drug trafficking money that furthered Lilla’s criminal acts, the complaint said.
Bennett allegedly generated false earnings statements for Ferrante to help the man obtain loans, the complaint said.
Lilla and Ferrante were arrested this month and an active warrant remains for Bennett.
Lilla is being held in the McHenry County Jail on a $2 million bond and Ferrante is being held on a $200,000 bond.