Prison terms for $1 million pot bust in North Aurora
Two of three people arrested in January in connection with a bust of 50 pounds of high-grade marijuana along Interstate 88 are going to prison, while a third is due in Kane County court this week.
A Kane County sheriff’s deputy stopped two men Jan. 14 after they failed to pay a 60-cent toll at I-88 and Route 31 in North Aurora.
A deputy became suspicious when the two men didn’t know each other’s last names, were driving a car with an Oregon registration, and had soft, non-callused hands despite telling authorities they were headed to Chicago and Elgin to find construction work, a sheriff’s report said.
A search of the car turned up 56 pounds of marijuana with a value of more than $1 million.
Jose Hernandez-Calderon, 41, of Santa Rosa, Calif., the passenger in the car, recently pleaded guilty to cannabis trafficking and was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined nearly $24,000, according to court records.
Pablo Galeana-Rueda, 34, of Aberdeen, Wash., the driver, also is charged with cannabis trafficking, which carries a top sentence of 30 years in prison. He is due in court Wednesday for a possible plea or setting of a trial date.
Police also arrested an Elgin man Jan. 18, 2011 after he called authorities to report one of the two men as “missing.”
Mario Hernandez, 36, of the 700 block of South Street, pleaded guilty last month to cannabis trafficking and will be sentenced Jan. 17, 2012, by Judge Patricia Golden, according to court records.
Hernandez entered a “cold plea” in which the defendant does not have a specific sentence agreed upon with prosecutors when guilt is admitted.
Defense attorney Franco Carone declined to elaborate on what arguments he might make before Golden when his client is sentenced.
“The case is still pending,” Franco said. “There are some other factors I’m not at liberty to discuss.”