Joliet Cocaine Dealer Arrested Again, This Time On Gardner Street: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — With Will County Judge Derek Ewanic off the bench for the weekend, fellow Will County Judge Joan Meyers ruled that Joliet cocaine and methamphetamine-dealing defendant Eric Lamar Lanier will remain in Will County's Jail under the SAFE-T-Act, court files show.

On Saturday, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Lanier with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver between 100 and 400 grams of cocaine and unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver between 15 and 100 grams of meth.

Lanier was also charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, for possessing 100 to 400 grams of cocaine and unlawful possession of methamphetamine for possessing 15 to 100 grams of meth, his Will County Sheriff's Office criminal complaint outlines.

Prosecutors informed Judge Meyers that Lanier was already out of custody on pretrial release for a 2022 crime of being an armed habitual criminal, out of Kane County. Lanier was also on pretrial release here in Will County, for a 2018 case of delivery of controlled substances and that case is pending in Courtroom 503 with a jury trial set for Feb. 9, 2026.

According to Will County's successful petition to deny pretrial release, last Thursday, Sept. 25, Will County sheriffs raided a house in the 1000 block of Gardner Street after seeing Lanier approach the home, arriving in a Cadillac CTS.

When Lanier exited the Cadillac, he was detained by sheriff's deputies, who then entered the house with their search warrant and cleared it for any occupants.

A search of the house recovered 150 grams of cocaine and another large bag of 18 individually wrapped bags of cocaine that weighed 63.7 grams, the court files show.

A large plastic bag weighing 96 grams had methamphetamine and eight more individually wrapped bags of cocaine weighed 11.8 grams. Prosecutors noted that 14 more individually wrapped bags of cocaine weighed 26.5 grams and multiple pills were found to contain ecstasy.

Will County noted that deputies found proof of residency for Lanier as well as dry cleaning tags on clothes in the closet with Lanier's name on it.

"Officers also made contact with the defendant's father outside of the residence and were told that the defendant was renting the above listed property for approximately $1,300 to $1,400 a month," the petition pointed out. "The People pray that this honorable court deny the defendant pretrial release."