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Man pleads guilty in Buffalo Grove pizzeria drug case

A man accused of using a Buffalo Grove pizzeria as a front for a drug trafficking operation pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Carmelo D. Rios, 41, was arrested along with Maria Garza, 43, in December 2011 and charged with running a drug operation out of their Arlington Heights home and

DeLuca's Pizzeria and Catering on Weiland Road, which now is closed.

Along with the couple, four men from Chicago, Philadelphia and Placentia, California, were charged after a six-month investigation into the drug trafficking operation, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Investigators said Rios and Garza arranged for drug shipments from Mexico to be distributed throughout the Chicago area and to buyers on the East Coast.

Surveillance video of the couple's home and business captured them arranging for the transportation, sale and delivery of drugs including heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine, authorities said.

DEA agents recovered about 7.5 kilograms of heroin, 1 kilogram of methamphetamine and 5.1 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $900,000.

Rios, who pleaded guilty to manufacturing and delivering heroin, received credit for more than three years in custody. He must complete at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Rios was also ordered to pay $3,000 in fines, court records show.

Garza's case is pending, and she remains in Cook County jail on a $1 million bail.

Maria Garza
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