Judge to rule Monday on Addison drug trafficking case
A DuPage County judge will rule Monday morning whether an Elgin man was a poor lookout for one of the area's largest heroin busts or simply a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time as authorities said his father and brother handed off the heroin to a third man.
Jose Hernandez, 28, of the 10 block of Lynch Street in Elgin, is on trial charged with unlawful manufacture or delivery of more than 7 kilograms of heroin, which carries a sentence of between 15 and 60 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege 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 an Addison shopping center parking lot near the shopping center of Irving Park and Rohlwing roads.
The Hernandez brothers and Pacheco-Ramos are each charged with unlawful manufacture or delivery of more than 7 kilograms of heroin and traffic offenses. Luis Hernandez has already 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 an apartment complex where they met up with 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. 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 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 and sat down. 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.
Jose Hernandez's attorney, Richard Dvorak, said his client was merely following his brother and father to dinner and stopped with them as they ran an errand, later identified as the heroin transaction.
Dvorak said there was "absolutely no evidence" presented to indicate Jose Hernandez was accountable.
"Even if you infer that he knew what was going on, that's not enough," Dvorak said. "But it just does not make sense that he would be a lookout based on the facts of this case."
Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Laude, however, argued that drug traffickers don't typically drag an innocent, unknowing person more than 20 miles to unknowingly participate in criminal enterprise.
"The fact that he was a poor lookout has nothing to do with his criminal intent," Laude said.
Judge John Kinsella will rule on the case at 8:30 a.m. Monday after reviewing case law relevant to the case.