CHICAGO — In a major blow to the city’s street-level drug trade, two suburban Chicago men have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for running a Mexico-to-Chicago pipeline that brought methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine to Evanston and Morton Grove.
SHELDON MORALES, 42, of Morton Grove, and EDUARDO SANTANA, 47, of Skokie, were convicted of conspiring with a supplier in Mexico and two inmates in a Texas prison to traffic the deadly drugs.
The plot thickened when law enforcement uncovered the operation through wiretapped cellular phones, package seizures, and extensive surveillance. The evidence revealed that the drugs were sent in packages from California and Arizona and later sold on the streets in the Chicago area.
The case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers and other criminal offenders threatening the United States. The task force leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago in 2022 convicted Morales and Santana on a drug conspiracy charge. Morales was also convicted of an individual drug charge related to his attempted possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland sentenced Santana to 16 years and eight months in prison. Morales received a harsher sentence, 19 years and seven months in prison, on April 16, 2024.
Two other defendants were also convicted and sentenced to prison as part of this investigation. DARIUS MORALES, 34, of Evanston, was sentenced in 2022 to nearly eight years in federal prison for illegally possessing a semi-automatic handgun in Evanston. DEMETRIUS SHAVERS, 42, of Chicago, was sentenced in 2021 to more than six and a half years in federal prison for trafficking heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl in the Chicago area.
The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Justin Campbell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office. Substantial assistance was provided by the Evanston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles W. Mulaney and Kirsten Moran represented the government.
Related Federal Cases
- James Leads Push for Senate KOSA Bill Over House Version · New Mexico
- Live Nation Faces Trial Over Monopoly Practices · Washington
- NY AG James Leads Lawsuit Against Trump’s Research Funding Cuts · New Mexico
- Amgen Pays $71M for Pushing Drugs Off-Label · Washington
- Amgen Inc. $71M Settlement · Washington
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
🔒 Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
Browse More
