Cahokia Man Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Crack Cocaine
EAST ST. LOUIS, IL. - Stephen R. Wigginton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on July 15, 2011, Raymond Woods, a 47 year-old Cahokia, Illinois man, pled guilty to one count of possessing in excess of five grams of crack cocaine. Sentencing is set for November 18, 2011 in East St. Louis, Illinois. At sentencing, Woods faces penalties of five to 20 years’ imprisonment; a fine not to exceed $1,000, and a $100 special assessment.
On June 9, 2010, a traffic stop was executed on a vehicle driven by Woods for expired insurance in Madison, Illinois. Following the traffic stop, the defendant produced a valid driver’s license and an expired insurance card to a police officer. The defendant was arrested and placed in a patrol car. Thereafter, the arresting officer conducted an inventory search of Woods’ vehicle prior to having it towed. As the arresting officer looked into the vehicle to begin his inventory search, he noticed a plastic bag protruding from between the driver’s side seat and the center console. When the arresting officer retrieved the bag and examined its contents, he concluded that the substance inside the vehicle resembled crack cocaine. The substance was laboratory tested by the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) and determined to be approximately six grams of crack.
The investigation was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF), with the DEA as the lead agency. The OCDETF initiative is designed to bring federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and resources together to identify, target and dismantle large national and international drug trafficking organizations.
