MEG agents closed in at Deerfield hotel lot. A man described as the leader of a six-man ring
who brought 106 pounds of marijuana to Lake County pleaded guilty Friday in Lake
County Circuit Court to drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 12 years in
prison.
Edgar A. Llanes, 32, will also likely be
deported to Mexico, after serving his prison sentence in Illinois, said Daniel
Shanes, chief of the drug prosecution division of the state's attorney's office.
Llanes, represented by attorney Jed Stone,
entered a negotiated guilty plea to marijuana trafficking, a Super Class One
offense. Aside from the negotiations, the charge carries a sentencing range of
eight to 30 years.
The original charge was a Super X offense, which
carries a penalty of 12 to 60 years in prison.
"We're very happy with the negotiations. Twelve
years was appropriate. It is the most of any of the defendants who have pleaded
guilty thus far. His role was the source of supply," said Julio Argueta,
assistant state's attorney.
Hidden microphones recorded Llanes stating, both
in California and in Lake County, that he had the marijuana and intended to sell
it, Shanes said.
Llanes hired others to drive the drugs —
packaged in 26 plastic-wrapped "bricks" — from California to Illinois while
Llanes flew here to complete the sale, Shanes said.
The marijuana, which police believe was grown in
Mexico, had a street value of $400,000 to $500,000, Shanes said. "It was enough
to get hundreds of school children in Lake County hooked on pot."
Five of the men were arrested in late March in
the parking lot of a Deerfield hotel by investigators of the Lake County
Metropolitan Enforcement Group. The sixth person was arrested later in
California and brought to Lake County.
Three of the men have already pleaded guilty and
been sentenced; two others still await trial.
Rodrigo P. Gomez, 28, pleaded to a Super Class
One charge and a negotiated 10-year sentence. Both Adam Flores, 21, and Edwin
Gonzalez, 18, pleaded to Class One charges and negotiated six-year sentences.
Walter T. Ruiz, 20, and Sergio B. Quintero, 23, await trial.
All are San Diego residents, except for
Quintero, a resident of Rowland Heights, Calif. Ruiz also maintains a residence
in Tijuana, Mexico.
