Peru parolee gets 14 years for cocaine seizure

A parolee caught with 5 ounces of cocaine pleaded guilty Thursday. Attorneys negotiated a 14-year term.

Mariano Verucchi, 24, of Peru, appeared Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court for a motion-to-suppress hearing.

But after lengthy, closed-door discussions, attorneys announced that they had reached a negotiated plea. Verucchi pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a Class X felony carrying a prison sentence of nine to 40 years due to the weight of the product.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three additional counts, all stemming from a trio of 2024 drug deals. (Two other suspects, Caitlin M. Panas of Spring Valley and Ronald E. Bennett of Marseilles, still face charges from those investigations.)

Assistant La Salle County State’s Attorney Laura Hall said that had the case gone to trial, prosecutors were prepared to call police and drug agents who executed a traffic stop Feb. 24 at Route 251 and Midtown Road in Peru. There, a K-9 officer alerted officials to the vehicle, and police found a package containing 146 grams of cocaine, which is about 5.2 ounces.

The conviction is subject to the state’s Truth in Sentencing Act, requiring certain felons to serve no less than 75% of their prison time. Coupled with various time-served credits, Verucchi is projected to serve about 10 years before release.