Update: Drug Tests Could Lead to Settlement

in the Skokie branch of Cook County Criminal Court for four Chicago-area men arrested July 6 by Wilmette police on felony charges of distributing cannabis may be the groundwork for a settlement.

The four defendants — Paul Shapiro, 26, of Skokie, Patrick Folise, 27, of Morton Grove, Mikhail Bezuysuskiy, 27, of Albion, and Benjamin Raimondi, 20, of Lake Forest — want to show they are not drug users if they consider a plea bargain. There was also a minor from Highwood in the group. (Earlier:

Shapiro, Folise, Bezuysuskiy, and Raimondi and a minor from Highwood by Wilmette police July 6 on a traffic stop. After the stop, police obtained a search warrant, searched Shapiro’s home on the Skokie-Wilmette border and found four pounds of cannabis along with $26,000 cash, according to Wilmette police. 

“In the event any of the defendants enter into a plea bargain it (the drug test) will be used as mitigation,” Folise attorney Patrick Walsh said. The test will show whether Folise, Shapiro, Bezuysuskiy and Raimondi have been using any drugs Friday. 

“All four (defendants) are willing to submit to a urine drop,” Assistant Cook County State’s attorney Akash Vyas told Orr when the defendants first appeared before her. She ordered one test Friday and one more before the next court date at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24. 

“I want one (drug test) today as a baseline,” Orr said.

She wants to know if they defendants have used drugs recently. The second test will indicate their behavior as the case progresses.

Shapiro remains free on $200,000 bond while the other three have posted the necessary amount of the $100,000 bonds to make bail.

Stay tuned to Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch for more on the story.