Aug. 19 trial set in Peru cocaine bust

A Peru woman will stand trial Aug. 19 for allegedly possessing almost 2 pounds of cocaine in her residence.

Charnelle N. Mond, 27, listed with an alternate residence in La Salle, appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court and entered a not-guilty plea for a charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a Class X felony.

Mond was charged April 25 after drug agents raided a Peru dwelling and seized about 900 grams of purported cocaine, according to prosecutors. Elevated drug felonies are weight-dependent, meaning Mond could face 12 to 50 years in prison if convicted and if lab testing confirms the volume reached 900 grams.

Mond, who was granted the services of a public defender, will next appear Aug. 9 for a motions hearing. She had been granted pretrial release.

Mond was charged after the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team and Peru police officers executed a search warrant of Mond’s residence and found ammunition and guns (including a stolen shotgun, police said) “littered throughout” the residence, prosecutors had said.

Although Mond had a firearm owner’s identification card, a second individual is charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon in addition to the drug charge. Robert L. Wright Jr., 38, was denied pretrial release in part because authorities allege that the convicted felon was within “arm’s reach” of a firearm during the drug raid, the judge had said.

Wright is in custody and thus is subject to a speedier trial demand. He will next appear July 11 for a motions hearing and again July 18 for a final pretrial conference.