Elgin man guilty in Addison heroin bust
An Elgin man now faces between 15 and 60 years in prison for his role in a July 2014 heroin deal gone bad.
DuPage County Judge John Kinsella on Monday morning found Jose Hernandez, 28, of the 10 block of Lynch Street in Elgin, guilty of unlawful delivery of more than 7 kilograms of heroin. Kinsella ruled Hernandez was accountable for the drug deal, even though he was acting as a lookout and did not physically participate in the actual drug transaction.
“The state substantially met its burden of proof to find the defendant guilty,” Kinsella said. “This was a substantial, well-organized drug deal in which drugs were taken from a location in Elgin to an individual in Addison.”
Prosecutors alleged Hernandez acted as “counter-surveillance” on July 24, 2014, as his father Luis Hernandez, 48, of the 200 block of Comstock Drive, Elgin, and his brother, Andres Hernandez, 25, also of the 10 block of Lynch Street, delivered the nearly 15 pounds of heroin from Elgin to a fourth man, Orlando Pacheco-Ramos, 28, of the 400 block of Stevens Road, in a shopping center parking lot near Irving Park and Rohlwing roads in Addison.
Andres Hernandez and Pacheco-Ramos each remain charged with unlawful manufacture or delivery of more than 7 kilograms of heroin and traffic offenses. Luis Hernandez already has pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and is serving a six-year sentence.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations agents received a tip on July 23, 2014, related to an out-of-state currency seizure in Arkansas. The next day, agents and police officers put Jose and Andres Hernandez's Elgin residence under surveillance.
Several agents testified during the bench trial that Jose and Andres Hernandez left their home on the afternoon of July 24 and drove to a townhouse development where they met their father, Luis Hernandez.
Agents watching the men said Andres Hernandez got into a Chevy Impala driven by his father and drove more than 20 miles to the Addison parking lot. During the entire trip, they testified, Jose Hernandez followed directly behind the Impala in a Chevy Cruze, later found to have an aftermarket hidden compartment installed in the dash.
Addison police Sgt. Jose Gonzalez testified that the Impala entered the shopping center parking lot first and was soon joined by the Cruze, which Jose Hernandez parked about 30 feet ahead of the Impala.
Gonzalez said a man believed to be Andres Hernandez exited the Impala and took a large bag from the trunk and placed it in the back seat, where Pacheco-Ramos had entered the car. After a few minutes, the Impala drove around the corner where, agents say, Pacheco-Ramos took the bag containing 7 kilograms of pure heroin and put it in his red two-door Hyundai.
Gonzalez said he then stopped Pacheco-Ramos' vehicle and made the arrest.
The Hernandez brothers were arrested at their Elgin home after stopping for dinner at a Hanover Park restaurant.
Kinsella will sentence Jose Hernandez on June 8. Hernandez must serve 75 percent of the sentence because of the amount of heroin involved in the case.