Elgin Man Sentenced to 23 Years for Possession, Intent to Sell 900 Grams of Heroin

An Elgin man has been sentenced to 23 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for possession and attempted delivery of heroin, the DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today.

Judge George Bakalis imposed the sentence this morning.

Authorities were first alerted of Eduardo Lara-Cardenas’s activities when Amtrak employees in Sacramento, California, noted he was acting suspiciously while boarding a train for Naperville, Illinois on May 16 of this year.

The next day, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Naperville police witnessed Lara-Cardenas get off the train with two duffel bags and get into a vehicle, which police later stopped due to a traffic violation.

While stopped, Lara-Cardenas consented to a search of his duffel bags, which the police discovered contained more than 900 grams of heroin valued around $160,000. Lara-Cardenas has since been held in custody on a $1 million bond.

On Oct. 14, he pled guilty to one count of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver, which is a Class X felony.

“Thanks to the cooperative efforts of Amtrak authorities, the DEA and the Naperville Police Department, we were able to not only put this defendant behind bars where he belongs, but we were also able to take an extremely large amount of heroin off the streets,” State’s Attorney Berlin said in a release. “In addition to the potential lives saved thanks to the interception of this shipment of heroin, today’s sentencing sends the message that if you attempt to bring killer drugs to DuPage County you will be caught, prosecuted and sentenced to a significant amount of time behind bars.”

Lara-Cardenas will have to serve at least 75 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

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