'Dial a Rock' suspects ponder plea deal

Four men police describe as primary agents in a Northwest suburban cocaine distribution ring have a lot to think about in the month before they next appear in a Rolling Meadows courtroom.

Ector Cortez, 41, who authorities describe as the operation's ringleader; his alleged right-hand man Adrian Peregrino-Garcia, 22; and so-called runners Julio Zenteno, 31, and Carlos Ruiz, 21, must decide whether they will proceed to trial or plead guilty and accept the court's recommended sentences of 12 years each for Cortez and Peregrino-Garcia and six years each for Zenteno and Ruiz. Their next court date is Sept. 28.

Police charged the men with criminal drug conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver last April as part of a drug sweep targeting a service authorities dubbed "Dial-a-Rock."

The service handled about 100 cocaine transactions a day for as many as 10 years, police said. Cortez, of the 2800 block of Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows, moved about 1/4 kilo of cocaine worth about $50,000 every couple of days, said Arlington Heights Police Commander Kenneth Galinski.

Prosecutors say Peregrino-Garcia, of the 1700 block of Poplar in Schaumburg, kept the books for the ring while Zenteno, of the 1700 block of Palm in Mount Prospect, and Ruiz, of the 2100 block of Tonne Road in Arlington Heights, delivered the drugs to customers who placed their orders through a call to Cortez's cell phone.

Galinski suggested that the department's thorough investigation - which spanned seven months - and the "air tight" case they built against the defendants may have contributed to the men's decision to seek a negotiated settlement.

The Arlington Heights Police Department coordinated the sweep with assistance from the Chicago office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Police from Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg assisted.

The defendants appear in Rolling Meadows courtroom 109 on Sept 28, at which time their cases will either conclude with a plea or be set for trial.