Man gets 16 years for Glen Ellyn drug deal

A Bolingbrook man convicted on drug charges for his involvement in a cocaine deal in Glen Ellyn was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison.

Alfredo Garcia, 36, and six other people were arrested during a 2011 drug bust at La Playa Cantina, 690 Roosevelt Road. In August, a DuPage County jury found Garcia guilty on charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Before being sentenced by DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell, Garcia told the judge that he wasn’t a drug trafficker.

However, he acknowledged organizing the meeting that resulted in undercover officers from the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group conducting a July 28, 2011, raid at the restaurant.

“I know I committed an error,” Garcia said through a Spanish interpreter. “And I have to pay for it.”

He then asked Fawell to give him the minimum sentence of 15 years, a request the judge denied.

In handing down the 16-year sentence, Fawell said Garcia’s behavior shows that he doesn’t follow the law. Garcia, who is in the country illegally, has several false names, multiple forms of fake identification and already has served time in prison, prosecutors said.

Garcia must serve 75 percent of his sentence.

Meanwhile, the cases of restaurant owner Venustiano Calderon of Lombard and two other co-defendants — Luis Sanchez of Chicago and Salma Sanchez-Hernandez of Cicero — are pending.

Authorities have said that Calderon tried to negotiate a $500,000 cocaine deal with the undercover officers, while Garcia and the five others acted as couriers, drivers and security.

The bust yielded a total of four kilos of cocaine with a total street value of $120,000.

Still another three co-defendants, Marciano Diaz and Luz Vidal, both of Chicago, and Oscar Colin of Cicero already have been sentenced.