KENOSHA, Wis. – A 27-year-old Kenosha man with a violent criminal history is facing three new felony drug charges after police say they caught him with more than 30 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and MDMA, along with a stash of marijuana hidden in his body.

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Elijah B. Echols appeared in court Friday, where Court Commissioner William Michel II set his cash bail at $17,500. He is charged with possession with intent to deliver fentanyl (between 10 and 50 grams), possession with intent to deliver MDMA (between 10 and 50 grams), and possession of THC as a second or subsequent offense. All three counts include repeater enhancements, and two include additional penalties as a subsequent drug offender.

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A preliminary hearing is set for June 27.

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According to a criminal complaint, the arrest occurred the evening of Saturday, June 14, when Kenosha Police Officers Labatore and Clark were patrolling the 6300 block of 29th Avenue. The officers reported noticing a cloud of smoke and a strong smell of marijuana coming from a white Lincoln MKX parked near 6325 29th Ave.

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Inside the vehicle were three men: Princeton Herron in the front passenger seat, Dontrell Seymour in the driver’s seat, and Echols in the rear. Police say Seymour immediately admitted to smoking a joint and was holding a burnt cigarillo — a type of wrapper often used to smoke marijuana.

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Officers ordered all three out of the car. Echols, who was wearing red pants and a black t-shirt, reportedly had an empty cigarillo wrapper in his hand and a prescription bottle filled with unlabeled pills in his pocket. The pills — 33 in total — were packaged in two clear, corner-tied plastic baggies. Based on their colors and markings, officers believed them to be counterfeit.

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Field tests confirmed that the pills included both fentanyl and MDMA. Police say the packaging and quantity were consistent with intent to distribute.

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After his arrest, Echols allegedly told Officer Clark at the Public Safety Building that he had hidden more marijuana in his buttocks. Officers say he then removed a small plastic bag containing 2.8 grams of marijuana. It later tested positive for THC.

Detectives weighed the pills and confirmed one bag containing fentanyl-laced pills weighed 16.6 grams, while the other bag of MDMA pills weighed 13.68 grams.

Echols has two prior felony convictions stemming from an August 2019 case in Kenosha County: aggravated battery intending great bodily harm, and burglary with battery, both as a party to a crime. He was sentenced to four years of initial confinement followed by five years of extended supervision and was released from prison on July 16, 2024 — less than a year before the new arrest.

He also has a prior drug conviction from 2017 for possession of THC, which was referenced in the complaint to support the repeater and subsequent offense enhancements.

If convicted on all counts with the applicable penalty enhancers, Echols could face more than 40 years in prison.

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