Man with past felony conviction found guilty in cocaine, pot, gun case after search of McHenry home

A McHenry County judge on Thursday found a defendant with a past felony conviction guilty of possessing multiple narcotics and a loaded firearm found in a McHenry home.

The case of Kenneth Price, 32, was heard this week before Judge Mark Gerhardt, who found Price guilty of possession, as well as manufacturing and delivery, of 15 to 100 grams of cocaine and being an armed habitual criminal, each a Class X felony. Price was also convicted of manufacturing, delivering and possession of 500 to 2,000 grams of marijuana, unlawful use or possession of weapons or ammunition by a convicted felon and endangering the life or health of a child, according to the indictment filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

Prior to his trial beginning Wednesday, prosecutors dismissed charges of possession and possession with intent to deliver fentanyl, a Class X felony, and resisting a police officer, Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller said.

Prosecutors said Price was selling cocaine and marijuana found in a home in the 1100 block of West Oak Leaf. His attorneys argued there is no proof the drugs were his or that he even lived in the home where the drugs, as well as a loaded gun, were found.

In response to the judge’s inquiry Wednesday, prior to the trial beginning, Miller said the state offered Price eight years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea to just one of the Class X charges, but he turned it down. He now faces six to 60 years in prison when sentenced Jan. 30.

The case stems from an execution of a search warrant at the home on Dec. 12, 2023.

McHenry County Sheriff’s detectives who had been surveilling the house testified they found individually wrapped baggies of crack and powder cocaine in the primary bedroom, as well as individual, vacuum sealed plastic bags of marijuana in the basement.

Michelle Etheridge, who works in the Illinois State Police crime lab, testified Wednesday there was 4.8 grams of crack cocaine, 27.9 grams of powder cocaine and 942 grams, or more than 2 pounds, of marijuana seized from the home.

The value of the crack cocaine which was equal to about two eight balls, was between $150 and $300 each; the powder cocaine would have sold for about $900 to $1,200, McHenry County Sheriff’s Detective Nicholas Clesceri testified.

Detectives also found a loaded firearm in a closet, which, along with the narcotics, was accessible to the children who were in the home.

Detective Anthony Crawford testified to finding a box with individual, plastic baggies of marijuana packaged for sale, digital scales with residue that tested positive for cocaine and rounds of ammunition. They also found items including a Link card, court documents and a shipping label with Price’s name on it throughout the house and in the master bedroom. Powder cocaine was found in a jacket pocket that the state said belongs to Price hanging in the master bedroom.

Prosecutors said he lived in the home with Desiree Crowcroft, 29, the mother of his child who also faces drug charges stemming from the raid and who detectives said Price is known to sell drugs with, according to court records and authorities.

In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Gregorowicz said when Price arrived and detectives were already inside the home, he tried to push passed one of them to get to the primary bedroom where the cocaine was found. Price knew what was in the bedroom and he wanted to get in their first so he could “destroy incriminating evidence” by flushing it down the toilette in the adjoining bathroom, Gregorowicz said.

The prosecutor also said Price left before police performed the search because he knew what they were going to find.

However, Price’s defense attorneys sought to cast doubt that he even lived in the home or that the illegal items found in the home were his. Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof said there were no bills, mail or documents found in the home with Price’s name and that address, and no cash was found in the home, which would be expected in the home of a drug dealer. The defense attorney also noted during trial that there was no evidence found of someone “cooking” crack in the home.

Behof also noted that in September, months after the raid when both Crowcroft and Price were arrested and charged, another raid took place at the home. This time, Price was in jail and Crowcroft was on pretrial release and back at home, and police allegedly found more cocaine. This search led to a new felony case in which she was charged with the possession, manufacturing and delivery of 15 to 100 grams of cocaine, a Class X felony, and child endangerment, according to a criminal complaint.

In closing arguments in Price’s trial, Behof said the state’s case is circumstantial and that Price only went to the home that day because his child, whom he shares with Crowcroft, was there. Behof also said there is no proof the gun, found in a pink purse, belonged to Price and no one testified that they bought drugs from Price.

“The state wants you to believe he lived there based on six hours of surveillance,” Behof told Gerhardt.

In swiftly rendering his decision, Gerhardt referenced the baggie of cocaine found in Price’s jacket pocket and the box of individually packaged marijuana presented during trial with Price’s name on the shipping label, and said, “I find it hard to swallow ... hard to believe” the drugs were not Price’s. The judge added noted the “random papers” found in the home with Price’s name on them. “He’s there, He knows it’s his.”

On Dec. 12, 2023, another man, Daniel Hawkins, also was arrested as he was seen driving away from the house. He was charged with various drug offenses. In July, Hawkins pleaded guilty to possessing less than 5 grams of methamphetamine and was sentenced to 3½ years in prison. On Wednesday, he was transferred to the county jail to testify for the state but then declined to do so.

Crowcroft, who is being held in the county jail pretrial, is due in court Dec. 13.