Crime & Safety
Wilmette Police Bust Cannabis Ring Involving Lake Forest Man
Wilmette police arrested four men and a juvenile and recover $26,000 in cash.
Four Chicago-area men and one minor have been charged with felony distribution of cannabis, according to a press release from Wilmette police.
Authorities arrested Paul Shapiro, 26, of Skokie; Patrick Folies, 27, of Morton Grove; Mikhail Bezuyevskiy, 27, of Albion; Benjamin Raimondi, 20, of Lake Forest and a minor from Highwood on July 6 after “an ongoing drug investigation by Wilmette detectives.”
Folies, Bezuyevskiy, Raimondi and the minor were apprehended after a traffic stop earlier on July 6. After the arrest, police executed a search warrant and seized four pounds of cannabis and $26,000 in cash from Shapiro’s apartment on the Skokie-Wilmette border in the 10000 block of Old Orchard Road, according to the release. Shapiro was arrested that evening in Chicago.
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“The offenders were part of a network that was distributing cannabis in North Shore communities,” the release said.
Shapiro, Folies, Bezuyevskiy and Raimondi are set to be in court at 1:30 p.m. July 22 at Skokie Courthouse.
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Below are the specific charges for each man being tried:
Paul Shapiro:
- Charges: Possession with intent to deliver 500-2,000 grams of marijuana
- Bond: $200,000 D
Patrick J. Folise:
- Charges: Possession with intent to deliver 10-30 grams of marijuana
- Bond: $100,000 D
Mikhail Y. Bezuyevskiy
- Charges: Possession with intent to deliver 10-30 grams of marijuana
- Bond: $100,000 D
Benjamin Raimondi
- Charges: Possession with intent to deliver 10-30 grams of marijuana
- Bond: $100,000 D
Juvenile offender
- Charges: Petitioned to juvenile court for possession with intent to deliver 10-30 grams of marijuana. Released to parents pending juvenile delinquency hearing.