Illinois State Police Troopers have arrested 29-year-old Robert Mazo and 33-year-old Pedro Arreola last Wednesday on drug possession charges. Today, both suspects had an appearance in Henry County Court. Even after they were released on pretrial conditions by a Henry County Court judge.

Pedro Arreola (L) and Robert Mazo (Illinois State Police)

Both suspects appeared in court today in street clothes, along with their two attorneys. Both Mazo and Arreola were arrested last week in possession of more than 5 thousand pounds of marijuana. Illinois State Police say it was one of the largest seizures in the agency’s history. Both suspects waived their rights to preliminary hearings on Monday. Illinois senators and representatives across the state of Illinois shared their reactions on both the case at hand, and the newly appointed Safe-T that included no cash bail starting just last week.

“This just shows you how ridiculous the Safe-T act is. And the fact that we have now allowed two drug runners from the state of California to be released,” Illinois Representative Ryan Spain said. “I can’t think of anything more ridiculous and reckless. The legislation has been fundamentally flawed from the beginning. And now that no cash bail has been implemented in the state of Illinois for one week now, we are starting to see the results of what a failed policy that is.”

Local 4 also reached out to Illinois Senator Neil Anderson who said in a statement, “Unfortunately, Illinois is the guinea pig for this ill-advised experiment called the ‘Safe-T Act’, becoming the first in the nation to completely eliminate cash bail in exchange for a system that favors criminals. I commend and support our law enforcement, who continue to do the best job possible to keep the public safe even when their hands are tied by this new law.”

Robert Mazo and Pedro Arreola will both have pretrial conferences on the same day, November 9th. While in the courtroom, the judge for Henry County allowed both suspects to the leave the state of Illinois, as long as they are both electronically monitored, and return to their next scheduled court date.