Drug Courier Sentenced To 50 Months
ST. LOUIS - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge, James P. Shroba announced today that Rodolpho Hernandez Flores, a 47-year old Mexican national, was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of heroin.
According to Southern District of Illinois court documents, Flores pleaded guilty to driving 5.4 kilograms of heroin, hidden in his truck, across the United States to Ohio. In April 2014, an Illinois State Police Trooper stopped Flores on Interstate 55 and following an alert by a drug canine, law enforcement found the heroin in a concealed compartment within the truck. Flores confessed to being a drug courier.
Chief United States District Court Judge Michael J. Reagan sentenced Flores after considering many factors, including the facts surrounding the traffic stop, Flores’s prior employment and work history, his character, and the serious amount of heroin in this case, commenting that “it’s a lot of heroin” and that Flores had “up to 50,000 doses of heroin.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Flores was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $500 fine.
“Whether is destined for our city, or merely passing thru, it is our job to stop drug traffickers,” Special Agent in Charge Shroba said. “The amount of heroin in Flores’ possession was significant and had it not been found by the Illinois State Trooper it would have ended up in an Ohio community for distribution.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Illinois State Police investigated this case.
