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Four year sentence in South Elgin pot case

A 70-year-old California man was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for shipping 82 pounds of marijuana to himself at a South Elgin warehouse.

Walter Kwiatek, of Cloverdale, also must pay a $25,000 drug fine as part of his guilty plea to felony unlawful possession with intent to deliver.

Judge Timothy Sheldon accepted the plea agreement, which was worked out by Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Scott Schwertley and defense attorney Robert Kerr.

Kwiatek originally pleaded guilty in May to cannabis trafficking conspiracy, a felony that carried a 6- to 30-year sentence with no possibility of probation.

“We agreed to allow him to withdraw his cold plea and we entered into the agreement.” Schwertley said, adding that Kwiatek did not have a previous criminal history.

Kerr could not be reached for comment.

Kwiatek was arrested in late December after police got a tip about a suspicious container sent to a warehouse of a South Elgin freight and delivery company in the 800 block of Commerce Drive. Authorities obtained a search warrant and arrested Kwiatek with the container, which police estimate was filled with an estimated $470,000 of marijuana.

“We executed a search warrant upon him taking possession of it,” Schwertley said.

Kwiatek began serving his sentence immediately and he can have it cut in half for good behavior behind bars.