Semi Driver Caught With 88 Pounds of Illegal Drugs Sentenced to 12 Years
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A district judge sentenced a semi-truck driver to 12 years in federal prison after he admitted to hauling 88 pounds of heroin, fentanyl, meth and cocaine through southern Illinois.
Ledaniel Russell, 50, of Fort Worth, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance: heroin, fentanyl, meth and cocaine.
Troopers with the Illinois State Police conducted a traffic stop on a semitrailer driven by Russell along Interstate 70 in Madison County, Ill., on Sept. 15, 2022. Following a search of Russell’s trailer, troopers located two large duffel bags concealing two pounds of heroin, 10 pounds of fentanyl, almost 70 pounds of meth and four pounds of cocaine.
In an interview with law enforcement, Russell admitted he planned to deliver the drugs to Michigan, after he stopped in Indiana to deliver his truck’s legitimate cargo. In addition to the 12-year prison sentence, Russell will serve five years of supervised release.
“We know our nations’ freeways are the arteries that bring Mexican cartels’ illegal drugs into our communities,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joseph Dixon, head of Drug Enforcement Administration investigations in southern Illinois. “DEA, working in lockstep with our partners from the Illinois State Police, will continue to be laser-focused on targeting, disrupting and dismantling the pipelines used to transport deadly drugs so they don’t impact the health and safety of our citizens."
DEA and the Illinois State Police led the investigation.
