A judge has sentenced a man to 18 years in prison after he was found guilty of possessing over $500,000 in cocaine that was shipped to a Lake in the Hills warehouse by a Mexican drug cartel.
Juan C. Sanchez-Cacho, 44, of the 2300 block of Arrow Street in Carpentersville, was charged with manufacturing and delivering 900+ grams of cocaine and possession of 900+ grams of cocaine.
McHenry County Judge Michael Coppedge found Sanchez-Cacho guilty of both charges during a three-day bench trial in October, court records show.
A second man, identified as Ivan Moreno-Gollegos, 21, of the 2300 block of Arrow Street in Carpentersville, was arrested by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office on September 20, 2018, on Route 31 north of Algonquin.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, and Lake in the Hills Police Department were investigating both of the men and conducting surveillance on them.
Moreno-Gollegos and Sanchez-Cacho went to a warehouse in the 9100 block of Trinity Drive in Lake in the Hills as police surveilled them on September 20, 2018.
The two men, who came to the U.S. in 2017, were living in a Carpentersville home paid for by a Mexican drug cartel, who had provided them with a red 2008 Toyota Camry, according to the testimony of one of the suspects.
Moreno-Gollegos and Sanchez-Cacho, along with a third man, unloaded multiple pallets of shrink-wrapped goods into the warehouse from a semi-truck that had arrived.
Moreno-Gollegos left the warehouse in the red Toyota and was arrested after officers pulled him over on Route 31 north of Algonquin.
Officers located 16 kilograms of cocaine, which officials said had a street value of $512,000, hidden inside the vehicle. No drugs were found in the warehouse.
Detectives said in a court filing that the pallets which were unloaded that day contained miscellaneous commercial goods and were used to conceal the transported cocaine.
Moreno-Gollegos took a plea deal offered by prosecutors and pleaded guilty in March to a reduced charge of unlawful possession with intent to deliver between 15-100 grams of cocaine. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The Northwest Herald reported that Sanchez-Cacho asked for forgiveness during his sentencing hearing and said he would accept whatever sentence the judge gave him.
The judge sentenced Sanchez-Cacho to 18 years in prison on Wednesday. Prosecutors had asked for 30-40 years in prison.
He must serve 75% of his sentence and will receive credit for spending two years in the McHenry County jail.