Opinion ID: 762147
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 3 Jeremy Wilson and Joseph Guarino both resided in a house in Berwyn, Illinois. On May 2, 1995, Special Agent Ken Howard, a police officer with the Berwyn Police Department who was assigned to the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Cook County, Illinois, filed a complaint for a search warrant in order to search Mr. Wilson, Mr. Guarino and their residence. The complaint stated that Special Agent Howard, the complainant, had probable cause to believe that in the house were guns, cocaine, items used to manufacture, distribute and possess cocaine, and currency associated with the sale of narcotics. 4 The probable cause asserted by the officer was based on the statement of confidential informant John Doe that he had known both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Guarino for more than a year and knew that they sold and used cocaine. The informant, a cocaine user himself for two years, stated that he had bought cocaine from them and had used cocaine with them in the past year. On the day before the complaint was filed, May 1, 1995, when the informant was at their residence, he was told that Mr. Guarino and Mr. Wilson had just received a large amount of cocaine. John Doe further related that Mr. Guarino brought up from the basement a large, clear plastic bag that contained smaller packages of the powder cocaine and they used it. He stated that he received the same feeling from snorting the white powder given to me by Guarino and Wilson as I have from snorting cocaine in the past. Guarino R.25, Ex.2 at 2. Mr. Guarino then returned the large plastic bag containing smaller packages of cocaine to the basement area of the residence, John Doe reported. Based on those facts, complainant Special Agent Howard stated that he believed that Mr. Guarino and Mr. Wilson were in possession of cocaine. Although the complaint recited all of these facts in a first person narrative, the complaint was signed only by Special Agent Howard and not by John Doe. 5 On the afternoon of May 2, 1995, Agent Howard appeared before Judge Gamberdino in the Cook County Circuit Court. Appearing with Agent Howard was the confidential informant who had supplied the information that formed the basis for the warrant. In the complaint seeking the warrant, in the draft warrant, and in his statements before the judge, Agent Howard referred to the informant as John Doe in order to maintain his anonymity. The judge questioned both the informant and the agent under oath, reviewed the complaint for the search warrant and then granted the warrant. 6 The next day, May 3, Agent Howard, other officers of the Berwyn Police Department, and several agents from the Department of Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF Agents) executed the warrant and conducted the search of the residence. They seized drugs, a cache of firearms and silencers, and one weapon with an obliterated serial number. The agents and officers also arrested Mr. Wilson and Mr. Guarino. 1 7 Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury. Mr. Guarino was charged in 3 counts with illegal possession of machine guns and firearms (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) and 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d)) and possession with intent to distribute cocaine (in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841). Mr. Wilson was charged with 2 counts of illegal possession of firearms, one of which had an obliterated serial number (in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d)).