Pre-trial Set for Twilight Boutique Owners

Pre-trials are set for Monday for Sean and Sherry Lightner, owners of a Prospect Road store that was raided by police in March.

The owners of  face charges of aggravated trafficking in drugs for allegedly selling K2-type products that contained illegal chemicals.

Linndale police confiscated 586 packs of so-called "herbal incense" -- sold under names like K2 and Spice -- in the March 2 raid, as well as hundreds of pipes and other smoking implements.

K2 is one brand of "synthetic marijuana" -- plant leaves coated with chemicals that, when rolled into cigarettes and smoked, produce a high.

Both Lightners are set for pre-trial on Monday, court records show. At a pre-trial, the prosecutor and defense attorneys typically discuss the charges and -- possibly -- consider a plea bargain, in which the defendants plead guilty to lesser charges to avoid a trial.

The Lightners are scheduled to go before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg at 9 a.m. 

The couple is currently free on $50,000 separate cash bonds. They have not commented, but company representatives have steadfastly denied the charges and said the Lightners will be found innocent.

They are each charged with a first-degree felony for selling products that contain an analog of the .

K2 and other synthetic marijuana disappeared from the shelves briefly after the ban, but were replaced by similar products containing slightly different chemicals.

Linndale Sgt. Tim Franczak said lab tests showed the products Twilight Boutique were selling contained an "analog chemical" that was substantially similar to the banned ones.

According to Franczak, an undercover officer from Linndale purchased an herbal incense product at Twilight earlier this year that was found to contain an illegal chemical.

Linndale then got a search warrant, which it executed March 2, confiscating not only the incense packets but hundreds of pipes and other smoking devices.