Minnesota man sentenced in Kane County to 17 years in prison for drug possession, intent to deliver

ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP – A Minnesota man, found guilty in April of drug offenses, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.

Kane County Judge David Kliment found Darieln A. Moran Sanchez, 25, of the 2600 block of Oak Hill Court, Maplewood, Minn., guilty in April of two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Kliment sentenced Moran Sanchez on June 7.

Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Jake Matekaitis and and Hillary Sadler presented evidence during the trial that at about 10 a.m. Sept. 5, 2020, Illinois State Police troopers who were traveling west on Interstate 90 stopped a Ford Explorer that Moran Sanchez was driving after a traffic infraction west of Illinois Route 47.

A lawful search of the vehicle produced 1,005 grams of cocaine, 446 grams of methamphetamine and more than 200 grams of suspected hydrocodone pills, according to the release.

The total street value of the meth and cocaine was estimated at $60,000. Moran Sanchez admitted to police that he was being paid to transport the illegal drugs to Minnesota.

Moran Sanchez’s girlfriend, along with her toddler daughter and teenage son, were in the car.

According to Illinois law, Moran Sanchez must serve at least 75% of the sentence, but he will receive credit for time served in the Kane County jail.

Matekaitis said in the release that the work of the Illinois State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration “prevented dangerous drugs from being transported to another state, where they most likely would have been sold and used, posing a serious danger to the public.”

“I am grateful for their efforts. My thanks to ASA Sadler for her hard work in this case,” Matekaitis said in the release.