Smoronk was convicted of LSD trafficking while student at Southern Illinois

An image of part of Page 8 of the Southern Illinoisan from May 11, 1982; inset Dean Smoronk in mugshot from his Virginia arrest booking.

The Rochester Voice has learned that Dean Smoronk, held in a Virginia jail on drug charges since June and out on bail as a suspect in a separate 2014 South Carolina drug-running case, was convicted on charges of trafficking in LSD while a student at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale some 35 years ago.

Smoronk's Farmington home at 979 Meaderboro Road was the scene of a grisly double murder in January, when his longtime girlfriend, Christine Sullivan, 48, along with Jenna Pellegrini, 32, of Barrington, were brutally stabbed to death on Jan. 27.

Smoronk, 55, was denied any reduction in bond earlier this month after his arrest on June 11 following a traffic stop on Interstate 95 in Virginia that yielded a huge cache of drugs. The car was stopped while speeding through a work zone, according to Virginia State Police.

Meanwhile, Timothy Verrill, 34, of Dover, and a longtime friend of both Smoronk and Sullivan, was arrested in the two women's deaths in February in Massachusetts. He is being held without bail at Carroll County Jail.

Smoronk, who has never been implicated as a suspect or person of interest in the murders, actually recently won a battle in Strafford County Superior Court when on Monday, Judge Mark E. Howard ruled that a civil forfeiture proceeding in connection with some $14,000 in cash found at his Farmington house on Feb. 3 should be vacated. The ruling means the $14,000 will be turned over to Smoronk and the state cannot go after it again.

The state had applied to seize the case based on grounds that the money was used or was "intended to be used in the procurement, trafficking, delivery or distribution of a controlled drug."

Howard based his decision on strict rules that the notice of the state's intent to go after the money had to be received by the court within 60 days. The state didn't get the necessary papers till April 5, 61 days later. The paperwork had been placed in the U.S. mail on April 3.

Smoronk was pursuing a bachelor's in forestry when he was arrested May 10, 1982, by agents from the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group for the alleged sale of 25 units of LSD to an undercover agent. According to the Southern Illinoisan newspaper, Smoronk, 20 at the time, sold the LSD to the undercover agent for $412.

Another 500 units of LSD were found in Smoronk's room. He was charged with felony possession and delivery.

Smoronk was convicted in September 1983 in connection with the case and was sentenced to 24 months of probation and paid $600 in fines and court costs, according to newspaper records.

Smoronk ended up graduating from Southern Illinois in 1984 with a degree in forestry and a minor in plant and soil science, according to school records.

Smoronk's next court date in Virginia is a probable cause hearing set for Nov. 16.