April 14, 2023 - EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A man from California was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison after he admitted to transporting 11 pounds of crystal methamphetamine to Fairview Heights, Illinois.

Luis A. Aguilar-Caldera, 31, of Chula Vista, Calif., pled guilty to one count of manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess a controlled substance. After serving his prison sentence, he will be placed on supervised release for two years.

According to court documents, a confidential informant working with the Drug Enforcement Administration set up a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from a Mexico-based supplier in May 2021. The individual met two men in a Ford F-150 at the Flying J truck stop in Alorton, Illinois. Aguilar-Caldera was the passenger in the truck that was pulling a lawn mower on a trailer. Aguilar-Caldera told the confident source there were 11 pounds of methamphetamine located in the tires of the lawn mower.

As the Ford F-150 and the confidential source were driving to a mechanic shop to remove the tires and retrieve the drugs, DEA agents conducted a traffic stop in Fairview Heights and arrested the men in the truck.

Co-defendant Leonardo Andres Hernandez, 49, of Bentonville, Arkansas, was also named in the indictment and is facing a charge for manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess a controlled substance. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The DEA led the investigation.

Source & photo: DEA