Two Aurora area men — a parolee and a probationer — face felony charges after police say someone in California mailed one of them a package containing thousands of grams of marijuana.
Kenny M. King, 27, of Yorkville, is accused of having the package mailed to him, while Robert Burns Jr., 35, of Aurora, allegedly picked it up from King’s home, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Joseph Stavola.
The box contained more than 3,000 grams of marijuana with a street value of about $75,000, and police believe at least one similar shipment took place in the past, Stavola said.
The United States Postal Service alerted local authorities to the package on its way, with the investigation also involving the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team, Kendall County sheriff and Yorkville police, Stavola said.
Police executed a search warrant shortly after the box arrived at King’s apartment on the 500 block of Kendall Drive in Yorkville, he said.
At about the same time, authorities arrested King at the residence and Burns down the street, Stavola said. Court records associate Burns with an address on the 1300 block of Pearl Street in Aurora.
Each man was booked in the Kendall County jail and charged with manufacture or delivery of between 2,000 and 5,000 grams of marijuana.
Indictments were also filed Tuesday against each man. Both are next due in court Sept. 14.
The Kendall County public defender assigned to represent King could not be reached. An attorney for Burns, Brian Erwin, has not returned a message left with his firm, Camic Johnson.
Court records show bail for Burns is set at $100,000, while Judge Timothy McCann ordered King’s reduced from the same amount to $25,000 on the condition he wear an electronic GPS monitor that would cost $8 per day.
Burns’ past felony convictions include cocaine dealing and being an armed habitual criminal. Illinois Department of Corrections records show he was released to parole in June 2016 and was supposed to be discharged in August 2018.
King was on probation from Kendall County, where records show his past convictions include manufacture or delivery of heroin, retail theft and forgery.
credit:chicagotribune.com