2 tons of marijuana seized near Peru

Police seized 85 trash bags of marijuana – with an average weight of 50 pounds – during a traffic stop Tuesday near Peru. In La Salle County, 2-ton seizures are pretty rare.

Cesar D. Jimenez-Preciado could go to prison for the rest of his life if convicted of hauling the estimated 4,500 pounds of pot.

Jimenez-Preciado, 53, of West Covina, California, appeared Wednesday in La Salle County Circuit Court and was presented with one count of cannabis trafficking and one count of unlawful possession of cannabis, both Class X felonies with no possibility of probation. Cannabis trafficking, the controlling charge, carries a special sentencing range of 12 to 60 years.

Prosecutors filed a petition to detain him and had him brought into a courtroom for a detention hearing, but Jimenez-Preciado asked for extra time to prepare. He advised the court that he wants to hire a private defense attorney and wants a do-over on his decision not to sit for a pretrial risk assessment in the La Salle County Jail.

Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. agreed to set the detention hearing over an extra day and moved the proceedings to Thursday.

In the petition to detain, prosecutors disclosed that they want Jimenez-Preciado detained not only because of the sheer volume of marijuana seized but also because he was born in Mexico and could, they intend to argue, present a flight risk.

Details of the seizure are pending. According to court records, Jimenez-Preciado was pulled over for an unspecified traffic violation shortly before noon Tuesday on eastbound Interstate 80, about a mile east of Route 251.

The grounds for the search and seizure, which may be challenged later, were not disclosed in public records or in open court.