A suburban Chicago man faces drug trafficking and gun charges after a federal task force allegedly found him with over 166 pounds of methamphetamine in his garage.
Judge Maryam Ahmad held William Lebron, 40, in lieu of $570,000 bail, an amount equal to the street value of the seized meth, according to prosecutors.
Homeland Security Investigations agents and task force officers, working a long-term narcotics case, were watching last Thursday afternoon as Lebron pulled up to the garage behind his Cicero home. According to a prosecutor’s report filed with the court, Lebron parked outside the garage and opened the overhead door, allowing the investigators to see a silver Toyota Camry parked inside with its trunk and windows open.
Agents moved in and detained Lebron after he removed a large black garbage bag from the Toyota’s trunk and began walking back to his car. As the cops moved in, Lebron dropped the trash bag, exposing “multiple clear, gallon sized bags all containing Methamphetamine,” the prosecutors’ report said. He’s also accused of having a loaded 9-millimeter handgun holstered in his front waistband.
Upon inspecting the Camry, investigators allegedly found two more large black garbage bags, each containing stacks of gallon-sized bags filled with meth.
When it was all said and done, agents collected 163 meth-filled gallon bags with a total weight of 166.4 pounds, the prosecutor’s summary said.
According to Judge Ahmad’s handwritten notes from his bail hearing, Lebron has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
He’s charged in state court with delivery of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, and armed violence. The latter charge, armed violence, does not mean what it sounds like. It is filed when someone is accused of possessing drugs and a firearm at the same time, even if no violence occurs.
Lebron must post 10% of the $570,000 bail to go home on an ankle monitor. Ahmad also ordered him to prove that any bail money he posts did not come from illegal activities.