An Oswego man who failed to appear for his drug trial last month has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer in Aurora in 2012.
Rumaldo Anzaldua, 40, is currently wanted on a warrant after he did not show up for his jury trial that started May 22. Once apprehended, Anzaldua will be taken into custody by the Illinois Department of Corrections to begin his sentence. He must serve 75 percent of the prison term after receiving credit for 84 days spent in Kane County Jail following his arrest.
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According to prosecutors, Anzaldua and a co-defendant arranged to sell four ounces of cocaine for $3,500 to a buyer who was actually an undercover officer with the North Central Narcotics Task Force, a unit consisting of drug investigators from Kane, McHenry and DeKalb counties.
The meeting took place Dec. 12, 2012, outside a Spring Street home in Aurora. The co-defendant, prosecutors said, received crack cocaine from Anzaldua to provide to the buyer. When the drugs were handed over, officers arrested Anzaldua and the co-defendant, who has since been sentenced to six years in prison, in the driveway.
Without Anzaldua present, a jury convicted him of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance after a two-day trial in May. His conviction was one of two within the same week that occurred during drug trials at which the defendant did not appear in court.
Speaking Tuesday, Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon praised the convictions while acknowledging such cases are a test to try for prosecutors.
“In absentia trials create some different challenges,” he said.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News