Joliet Man Not Guilty Of Class X Felony Drug Charges

JOLIET, IL - Back in March, 35-year-old Joliet resident Marcus Gant got pulled over by the Bolingbrook Police Department. They took him to the Will County jail where Gant drew a $500,000 bail. He was charged with a Class X felony drug charge. But unlike most inmates, Gant, who lives in the 200 block of Illinois Street, professed his innocence. He subsequently hired downtown Joliet criminal defense lawyer Cosmo Tedone to argue his arrest was improper.

Last week, Gant stood trial before Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak. He was facing the Class X felony drug charge, plus a Class 1 and Class 4 drug charge. The trial's verdict was not guilty on all three charges.

"It was really a good verdict," Tedone told Joliet Patch. "You really don't win too many Class X drug cases."

Tedone told Patch the March 9 traffic stop at one of the shopping plazas along Route 53 was questionable by Bolingbrook police.

Tedone said the traffic stop was prompted by an unmarked Bolingbrook Police car supposedly getting a call from a concerned citizen who saw a "white Tahoe speeding" through the shopping plaza. Eventually, the unmarked car saw Gant behind the wheel of a 2015 Jeep Cherokee and followed him for a while before eventually pulling him over for not using a turn signal, Tedone said.

After Gant was stopped, the Bolingbrook Police Department searched the car for drugs.

Court records indicate "a white powdery substance in three bags and (an) amount of a green leafy plant substance in four bags was found in a 2015 Jeep Cherokee."

On March 23, one bag of white powdery substance was weighed by the Northern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory at 48 grams and tested positive for cocaine. Two others bags of the white powder totaling 32 grams were not tested.

The baggies of the green leafy substance, 111 grams, proved positive for marijuana, court records show.

But if Gant was stopped for driving a Jeep with both cocaine and marijuana, why was he found not guilty?

"The vehicle was somebody else's," Tedone said.

During the trial, Tedone produced a defense witness, Jason Tshulos, who appeared in court and testified how the drugs concealed within the Jeep belonged to him.

According to Tshulos' trial testimony, the Jeep was actually owned by Gant's girlfriend. So, when Gant drove the Jeep around Bolingbrook in March, he had no idea that Tshulas was hiding his illegal drugs in different places within the Jeep, Tedone argued successfully.

Will County State's Attorney's spokesman Chuck Pelkie said the prosecution team did not believe the courtroom testimony given by the defense team's witness was credible. That witness, Tshulos, also told the courtroom how he was constantly high, insisting the cocaine and marijuana in the Jeep were his.

However, in light of the verdict, Pelkie said the State's Attorney's Office will be evaluating whether to bring charges against others regarding the drugs found in the Jeep during the March incident in Bolingbrook.

Tedone said the Bolingbrook Police did not do a thorough job investigating the actual circumstances involving the hidden drugs in the Jeep.

"Why aren't they asking and learning more?" Tedone asked. "It seems like they could have done more."

Mugshot of Marcus Gant via Will County Sheriff