Elmhurst Man Sentenced Monday for Possession of Nearly 200 Pounds of Pot

Police said it was the largest drug bust the village of Lake in the Hills has ever seen. Elmhurst resident Anthony V. Occhipinti, who was 33 at the time, was driving suspiciously in the northwest suburb back on Nov. 23, 2010, according to an article in The Daily Herald.

Police stopped his 1997 Thunderbird on the 3200 block of Chadwick Lane and discovered 195 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle with an estimated value at the time of $1.76 million, according to Lake in the Hills Police. Occhipinti ran away from police, but turned himself in Dec. 1.

Occhipinti, who lives at 633 Spring Road, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison. He was scheduled for trial on Monday, but instead he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of more than 5,000 grams of marijuana, a Class 1 felony. His original Class X felony drug charge was dismissed, according to The Herald.

The drug bust resulted in 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 at the time.

Occhipinti had been free on bond since his arrest.