Man convicted of trafficking meth from California to Illinois
CHICAGO - A 24-year-old man from California was found guilty by a federal jury in Chicago on Sept. 25, 2026 of trafficking methamphetamine from California to Illinois for a Los Angeles-based drug trafficking organization.
California man found guilty of trafficking meth to Illinois
The backstory:
The 24-year-old was identified as Hugo Steven De La Cruz Corona, who was working on behalf of a Los Angeles-based drug trafficking organization that shipped narcotics across the country using the U.S. Postal Service, according to prosecutors.
In October 2020, he traveled to Chicago to pick up two parcels containing multi-pound quantities of meth that the organization had shipped from California.
Unknown to De La Cruz Corona, law enforcement had already intercepted both packages and swapped the meth for fake drugs before he arrived to collect them.
A four-day trial at the U.S. District Court in Chicago was then held for De La Cruz Corona, where he was found guilty on Sept. 25, 2026 on two drug charges.
Dig deeper:
The investigation was part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative and involved agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI and the DEA, with prosecution led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Four other defendants connected to the same drug trafficking organization were also convicted. The alleged leader of the organization, Marco Torres Sr., a 49-year-old man also from California, pleaded guilty before the trial and is awaiting sentencing, according to prosecutors. The three remaining defendants were sentenced to prison for six years, five years and 14 months.
What's next:
U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah set sentencing for De La Cruz Corona for Jan. 20, 2027. Each conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to prosecutors.
The Source: This story uses information from a press release shared by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.