Court Date Pushed Back for Man Charged in Marijuana Seizure

Court hearings for an Elmhurst man charged with possessing the largest amount of marijuana ever seized in Lake in the Hills history were pushed back.

Anthony V. Occhipinti, 34, 633 Spring Road, was scheduled to appear Tuesday before Judge Joseph P. Condon in McHenry County Court. Pending motions and a trial date were expected to be set during the hearing Tuesday.

Instead, the hearing was moved to Feb. 2.

Nearly one year ago, Occhipinti pleaded not guilty to felony charges of possession of cannabis and of manufacturing and delivering cannabis.

Occhipinti turned himself into the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 1, 2010, after the  issued a warrant for his arrest. Occhipinti eventually was released on a $75,000 bond.

Charges against Occhipinti stem from a Nov. 23, 2010, incident when police observed Occhipinti driving a 1997 Thunderbird in a suspicious manner near 3200 Chadwick Lane, according to Lake in the Hills police.

When police approached the car, Occhipinti allegedly got out of the vehicle and ran.

Police saw two bundles in the back seat of the car, and called in a K-9 unit. The dog indicated the presence of marijuana in the car, police said.

Police ultimately seized approximately 195 pounds of marijuana from the Thunderbird with an estimated street value of $1.76 million, Lake in the Hills police said.

The drug bust was the largest amount of marijuana ever confiscated in Lake in the Hills, village Police and Public Safety Director Jim Wales told Lake in the Hills Patch in an earlier article.