An illegal immigrant from Mexico has been ordered to spend five years in federal prison for possessing more than a quarter ton of marijuana found hidden under squash during a southwestern Illinois traffic stop.
Thirty-seven-year-old Francisco Javier-Rivera was sentenced Monday in East St. Louis.
Authorities say Javier-Rivera was smuggling 532 pounds of marijuana. Granite City police found it in February under 37,000 pounds of spaghetti squash in a tractor-trailer Rivera was driving during an Interstate 70 traffic stop.
Javier-Rivera pleaded guilty in May to possessing marijuana with plans to distribute it and to unlawfully entering the United States.
After his prison sentence, he will face deportation proceedings.
http://www.muscatinejournal.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/article_557b8dc4-2dc2-5c1f-83fe-8b1af8511e97.html
Thirty-seven-year-old Francisco Javier-Rivera was sentenced Monday in East St. Louis.
Authorities say Javier-Rivera was smuggling 532 pounds of marijuana. Granite City police found it in February under 37,000 pounds of spaghetti squash in a tractor-trailer Rivera was driving during an Interstate 70 traffic stop.
Javier-Rivera pleaded guilty in May to possessing marijuana with plans to distribute it and to unlawfully entering the United States.
After his prison sentence, he will face deportation proceedings.
http://www.muscatinejournal.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/article_557b8dc4-2dc2-5c1f-83fe-8b1af8511e97.html