A California man has pleaded guilty to a marijuana delivery scheme that involved his parents in St. Charles.

Nicholas A. Salemi, 24, of Sealark Lane, Fallbrook, CA, and formerly of St. Charles, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, agreed to a sentence of five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and a fine of $39,000 in exchange for a guilty plea to unlawful delivery of cannabis, a Class 1 felony. Circuit Judge John A. Barsanti accepted the plea.

During the plea hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that between Feb. 19, 2014, and April 2, 2014, Nicholas Salemi and co-defendant Maryhelen Kwiatkowski, allegedly shipped approximately five pounds of marijuana from California to Kane County, Ill., through the U.S. Postal Service. Some of the monetary proceeds from the sale of the marijuana that was shipped to Kane County were received by codefendants Anthony and Gina Salemi, Nicholas Salemi’s parents.

Maryhelen Kwiatkowski, 32, of Sealark Lane, Fallbrook, CA, is charged with unlawful delivery of cannabis, a Class 2 felony. Her next appearance is set for 9 a.m. Jan. 30, 2015, in Courtroom 305 in front of Circuit Judge Susan Clancy Boles.

Anthony W. Salemi, 56, of the 5N block of North Glen Oak Lane, St. Charles, is charged with money laundering, a Class 3 felony, unlawfully producing/possessing cannabis plants, a Class A misdemeanor, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of cannabis, a Class B misdemeanor. Gina T. Salemi, 52, of the 5N block of North Glen Oak Lane, St. Charles, is charged with money laundering, a Class 3 felony. Their next court appearance is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 4, 2014, in Courtroom 319 at the Kane County Judicial Center in front of Judge Barsanti.

According to Illinois law, Nicholas Salemi is eligible for day-for-day sentencing. He receives credit for at least 168 days served in the Kane County jail.

The charges were the result of a joint investigation of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Homeland Security Investigations, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the North Central Narcotics Task Force and the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

“The fine work and interagency cooperation of the postal inspectors, the DEA and Homeland Security agents, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and particularly the investigators with the North Central Narcotics Task Force on this case deserves our thanks,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.

The pending charges are not proof of guilt. Each defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

SOURCE: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office press release