Pictured Dickenson, Krauss and Doepfner.
A tip from a crystal meth bust at a North Side apartment led to a similar development at the Loop's Palmer House Hilton Hotel—the site of this year's International Mr. Leather ( IML ) conference.
The 23rd District tactical team received a tip that led it to an apartment on the 4200 block of North Broadway on the evening of May 26, Windy City Times learned from the Chicago police news affairs division. There, officers arrested Chicago residents Ronald Dickenson, 36, and Arthur Krauss, 38, after discovering 262 grams of methamphetamine that had a street value of over $83,000.
From that bust, police got information that led them to a room at the hotel, located at 17 E. Monroe, where they arrested Robert Doepfner, 43, of San Francisco. At that site, officers came across 72 grams of meth that had a street value of approximately $25,000.
The hotel was the site of the 28th annual IML gathering, which draws leathermen and leatherwomen from around the globe. ( The hotel's weekend manager declined to comment on the arrest. )
Bill Stadt, IML's organizer, told Windy City Times that there was nothing that directly connected Doepfner with the conference. Moreover, he said that IML has taken a distinct anti-meth stance, with actions that have included distributing brochures and placing ads: 'We've had a very strong anti-dealing and anti-crystal meth policy for several years, saying that if we find out that you're doing it, we're going to call the police. We didn't know this person and did not know that was going on. If we had known, we would've taken care of it—but it was taken care of, and that was fine.'
All three suspects, who are each charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, are set to appear in court June 21.