Driver sentenced in Naperville pot case

WHEATON, Ill. -- A driver who waited in vain for a train passenger bringing $60,000 worth of marijuana to west suburban Naperville has been sentenced to prison.

Charles W. Scott, 43, of Chicago, originally had been charged with trafficking between 2,500 and 5,000 grams of marijuana, as well as the manufacture or delivery of between 2,000 and 5,000 grams of the drug. He instead pleaded guilty to an amended charge of the manufacture or delivery of between 10 and 30 grams of marijuana, according to records on file in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton, the Naperville Sun is reporting.

Judge Daniel P. Guerin on Friday accepted Scott's plea and sentenced him to three years in prison. Court records showed Scott served 559 days in DuPage County Jail after his arrest, and with day-for-day credit for good behavior, already has completed that term.

Scott and Jimmie L. Medcalf were arrested at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 9, 2012, at Metra's Naperville commuter train station at 105 E. Fourth Ave.

Agents of the Naperville Police Department's Special Operations Group went there that afternoon, acting on information they had received from authorities in California. Naperville police Cmdr. Lou Cammiso in December 2012 said an informant had "related there'd be a shipment of drugs" aboard an Amtrak train bound for the depot.

SOG members were given Medcalf's name, physical description and the number of the train on which he was traveling, Cammiso said. Detectives positioned themselves in the station's parking lot and soon after "observed the subject who matched Medcalf's description" debarking the train, he said.

Police approached Medcalf and asked if his name was Jimmie. Medcalf denied that it was, "and when the officers said they wanted to talk to him further, he took off running," Cammiso said.

Medcalf was captured after a brief chase. Cammiso said Scott, who had been identified as being Medcalf's accomplice, was found shortly thereafter waiting behind the wheel of a car.

Cammiso said Medcalf had been traveling with a suitcase or large bag. It was found to contain 7 pounds of "medical-grade" marijuana with a street sale value Cammiso estimated at $60,000.

Medcalf, 30, also of Chicago, pleaded guilty last summer to a felony charge of the manufacture or delivery of between 2,000 and 5,000 grams of marijuana. He was sentenced Aug. 2 to 10 years in prison.

Source: Sun-Times Media Wire - Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2014.)