A Skokie man and a Morton Grove man are facing stiff prison sentences, including possible life imprisonment, after they were found guilty in federal court in Chicago of conspiring to traffic methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine from Mexico to the north suburbs in 2019, federal authorities said.
Sheldon Morales, 40, of Morton Grove, and Eduardo Santana, 45, of Skokie, were convicted on Aug. 5 of conspiring with a supplier in Mexico and two inmates in a Texas prison to traffic the drugs from Mexico to Evanston and Morton Grove in 2019, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois.
The release said the drugs were sent in packages from California and Arizona and later sold “on the streets in the Chicago area.”
Law enforcement uncovered the drug trafficking activities through the use of wiretapped cellular phones and extensive surveillance, the release said. It said the case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation (OCDETF) which “identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers and other criminal offenders that threaten the United States “by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.”
The Aug. 5 convictions follow a week-long trial in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, said the release. In addition it said Morales was also convicted of an individual drug charge related to his possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Morales faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of life, while Santana faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life, according to the release.
U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland has not yet scheduled sentencings, the release said.