Man held in pot shipments
California resident delivered 212 pounds of marijuana, agents say
By Tony Gordon
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
Posted Wednesday, February 08, 2006
A man from suburban Santa Barbara, Calif., was ordered held on $1 million bond
Tuesday after police say he engineered two major shipments of marijuana into the
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dan Shanes said Paul Marable, 45, of
Solvang, was arrested Sunday morning as he helped unload the second shipment of
Police said the marijuana seized Sunday, in addition to 62 pounds police said Marable
sent them in December, is worth at least $500,000.
Shanes said agents of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group became
aware of Marable’s name as a potential supplier of large amounts of marijuana last fall
during the course of another investigation.
After negotiations with a MEG agent, Shanes said Marable agreed to ship the first
62 pounds to a house in Gurnee and accept payment when the marijuana had been
That shipment arrived on Dec. 7, and Shanes said negotiations began for the second
shipment almost immediately after.
Marable packed the 150 pounds of drug into a shipping crate and took it to a
commercial moving company with instructions it was to be sent to a company near
Route 41 and Delany Road in Gurnee, Shanes said.
Marable then flew to the area and drove to the site of the pre-arranged transfer,
where he was arrested as he helped two employees of the shipping company unload
Shanes said the shipping company employees were released after it was determined
they had nothing to do with the shipment.
Marable appeared Tuesday morning before Associate Judge Valerie Ceckowski and
was charged with marijuana trafficking and delivery of marijuana.
She rejected a request for a $300,000 bond by defense attorney Elliott Pinsel of
Shanes said police have information that Marable has traveled to Mexico and
Vietnam recently, and Ceckowski ordered him to surrender his passport if he posts
the required 10 percent of the bond amount.
She scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 2, and Shanes said Marable faces a
mandatory prison sentence between 12 and 60 years if convicted.
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