Man Walks Free Under Zero-Bail Law After Allegedly Transporting 62 Pounds Of Cocaine

A Chicago-area judge gave a pretrial release to a man who was arrested for allegedly possessing 62 pounds of cocaine, CWB Chicago reported.

Terrence Slaughter was arrested on Oct. 24 at Chicago Midway International Airport for possessing over $3.5 million worth of cocaine in two roller bags, but was released after prosecutors declined to ask the judge to keep Slaughter in custody until his trial, according to CWB, a local news outlet. Slaughter had just finished serving a 15-year sentence he received in 2007 for stealing between 33 and 38 guns from a police sergeant’s home in 2003.

Illinois eliminated its cash bail policy in September because officials claimed it “exacerbated existing inequities and disparities” in the legal system. Under the new policy, a suspect is not eligible for pretrial incarceration unless they have committed a violent crime or have been labeled as a flight risk.

Officials allowed a man who had broken into a store with a sledgehammer and stolen $68,000 worth of merchandise to walk free just days after the zero-bail policy went into effect, according to ABC7 News. In another case, a judge released an accused murderer under the zero-bail policy despite the prosecution’s claims that the man allegedly shot his unarmed girlfriend eight times, including twice in the back, Fox2Now reported.

The Chicago Police Department declined to comment further on the matter. The Cook County Sheriff’s Department and the Cook County Circuit Court did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.