Four years probation in Elgin 45-pound pot bust
An Elgin woman was sentenced to four years of probation after pleading guilty to possessing a 45-pound package of marijuana that was mailed to her house in June.
Diana A. Leal, 50, also spent 136 days in jail and was fined $105,500, which prosecutors say was the street value of the drugs.
Leal was arrested on June 4 and charged with felony possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis and manufacture/delivery of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis after police said she signed for a package delivered to her home in the 300 block of Orange Street that contained marijuana.
The most serious charge carried a mandatory prison term of six to 30 years, without the possibility of probation.
Kane County prosecutors this week agreed to drop the most serious charge as part of the guilty plea.
“The facts that we know were somebody else was having it mailed to her house and she accepted it,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Schwertley.
Leal did not have an extensive criminal record in Kane County, with only a driving under the influence arrest in Elgin in 2000, records show.
Schwertley also noted that Leal had significant health problems and had a mini stroke while being held at the jail.
Judge Clint Hull accepted the plea. If Leal violates her probation, she could be brought back into court and sentenced to prison for between 4 and 15 years.