A suburban North Chicago man was arrested for selling drugs out of a residence that operated as a home daycare, authorities said.
Delwin Hodge, 27, was charged with three counts of unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and endangering the life/welfare of a child, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Following an undercover operation, members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Group and SWAT team conducted a raid at a home in the 2100 block of Wright Avenue near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on Thursday, authorities said.
Sheriff’s officials said Hodge sold meth to undercover officers at his residence, where a daycare operates. However, his mother disputes that.
“Don’t operate daycare here. No daycare is not here at all,” said Yamisha Hodge, Delwin Hodge’s mother. “Was he involved? No, he’s a felon, can’t work at daycare.”
Yamisha Hodges owns the daycare business, which serves around 14 children. But she told NBC Chicago her son just lived in the house – and childcare happened in another building.
“Upset because me or my business had nothing to do with it,” Yamisha Hodge said.
She said the daycare was being run at a physical learning center about a mile and a half away, and she noted some of the kids who attended were either family or friends.
“Yeah, family, friends, family members come to my daycare,” Yamisha Hodge said. “Six of them are my grandkids.”
But sheriff’s officials alleged the house was being used as a daycare and a drug business.
Investigators found a gun, which authorities said was accessible to children who were at the home for daycare. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was notified of the situation.
“It is absolutely unacceptable for anyone to traffic dangerous drugs in our community, especially from a home where children are present,” Sheriff John Idleburg said in a statement, in part. “The fact that methamphetamine was being sold and a firearm was left accessible in a daycare environment is beyond reckless..”