ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (AP) – A federal jury in western Illinois has found a 30-year-old man guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin.
A Monday statement from prosecutors says jurors convicted Omar Gutierrez-Valle last week of trying to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of heroin. Jurors heard four days of evidence and deliberated for two hours before reaching a verdict.
Prosecutors say the conspiracy involved bringing illegal drugs across the border from Mexico to California and then seeking to distribute them in the Midwest. Illinois State Police first discovered the drugs on a truck after stopping it for a safety inspection.
Sentencing is set for July 11. Gutierrez-Valle faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. He could also be given a sentence of life behind bars.
