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A Mexican national who brought 27 pounds of marijuana to Decatur to sell was sentenced Wednesday in Macon County Circuit Court to 12 years in prison for the Class X crime of unlawful cannabis trafficking.
Jorge Vazques-Herrera pleaded guilty to the charge under an agreement he and his attorney, Assistant Public Defender David Massey, reached with the state's attorney's office.
The 12-year sentence is the minimum provided under state law for the charge, which carries a maximum period of incarceration of 60 years.
Associate Judge James Coryell said Vazques-Herrera would qualify for day-for-day good time and would receive credit for 210 days already served in the county jail. He also fined Vazques-Herrera $124,721, the estimated street value if the marijuana had been sold.
Based on that sentence, Massey estimated his client could be released in five years. He said as a foreign national, Vazques-Herrera would be subject to deportation because of the felony conviction.
Vazques-Herrera was arrested Feb. 16 by Decatur police officers who served a narcotics search warrant at 442 Carol Manor, where they found him in a bedroom of the mobile home, said Assistant State's Attorney Jay Scott, who prosecuted the case.
In the bedroom with him was a duffel bag containing two bricks of marijuana, Scott said. In a Ford Explorer with Colorado license plates that was parked in the driveway, officers found two loose panels, he said.
A police dog trained to sniff narcotics had indicated positively on the vehicle.
In the rear driver's side door panel, officers found several bricks and plastic bags of marijuana and more of the drug was found in a panel above the passenger side wheel well, Scott said. Vazques-Herrera told police he drove carefully from Colorado to Decatur so as not to be stopped by police, Scott said.
A man who accompanied Vazques-Herrera from Colorado, Kufre I. Etuk, 25, pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor, unlawful possession of marijuana, June 30 and was sentenced to 65 days in jail with credit given for that much time already served. He also had to pay a street value fine of $150.
Newshawk: 420Am&Pm - 420 Magazine
Source: Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)
Pubdate: September 14, 2006
Author: Ron Ingram - H&R Staff Writer
Copyright: Copyright 1996-2006 Herald & Review, Decatur, IL, a division of Lee Enterprises.
Contact: ringram@herald-review.com
Website: Herald & Review Newspaper Website - Decatur, Illinois - Central Illinois Newspaper Group (CING)
Jorge Vazques-Herrera pleaded guilty to the charge under an agreement he and his attorney, Assistant Public Defender David Massey, reached with the state's attorney's office.
The 12-year sentence is the minimum provided under state law for the charge, which carries a maximum period of incarceration of 60 years.
Associate Judge James Coryell said Vazques-Herrera would qualify for day-for-day good time and would receive credit for 210 days already served in the county jail. He also fined Vazques-Herrera $124,721, the estimated street value if the marijuana had been sold.
Based on that sentence, Massey estimated his client could be released in five years. He said as a foreign national, Vazques-Herrera would be subject to deportation because of the felony conviction.
Vazques-Herrera was arrested Feb. 16 by Decatur police officers who served a narcotics search warrant at 442 Carol Manor, where they found him in a bedroom of the mobile home, said Assistant State's Attorney Jay Scott, who prosecuted the case.
In the bedroom with him was a duffel bag containing two bricks of marijuana, Scott said. In a Ford Explorer with Colorado license plates that was parked in the driveway, officers found two loose panels, he said.
A police dog trained to sniff narcotics had indicated positively on the vehicle.
In the rear driver's side door panel, officers found several bricks and plastic bags of marijuana and more of the drug was found in a panel above the passenger side wheel well, Scott said. Vazques-Herrera told police he drove carefully from Colorado to Decatur so as not to be stopped by police, Scott said.
A man who accompanied Vazques-Herrera from Colorado, Kufre I. Etuk, 25, pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor, unlawful possession of marijuana, June 30 and was sentenced to 65 days in jail with credit given for that much time already served. He also had to pay a street value fine of $150.
Newshawk: 420Am&Pm - 420 Magazine
Source: Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)
Pubdate: September 14, 2006
Author: Ron Ingram - H&R Staff Writer
Copyright: Copyright 1996-2006 Herald & Review, Decatur, IL, a division of Lee Enterprises.
Contact: ringram@herald-review.com
Website: Herald & Review Newspaper Website - Decatur, Illinois - Central Illinois Newspaper Group (CING)
