California Man Charged After 20K Heroin Find

Effingham County State's Attorney Bryan Kibler has filed two Class X felony drug charges against a California man in connection with a traffic stop Sunday night in Effingham County.

(CONRAD VALDEZ)

45-year-old Conrad Valdez of Selma, California, was charged after a stop on I-70, about two miles west of Montrose. Just before 10:30pm Sunday, troopers of the Illinois State Police conducted a traffic stop and truck inspection on a semi driven by Valdez. During the stop, law enforcement found underneath the bottom sleeper bunk inside the truck tractor approximately 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of heroin, with an estimated street value of $3.5 million.

Kibler Tuesday charged Valdez with a count of controlled substance trafficking, involving more than 900 grams of heroin. Valdez was also charged with a count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, involving the same load of heroin. Kibler said, based on the amount of heroin involved, the controlled substance trafficking count carries a mandatory prison sentence of between 30 and 120 years in prison. The possession with intent to deliver count carries a mandatory prison sentence of 15 to 30 years.

In court Tuesday, Effingham County Resident Circuit Judge Kimberly Koester set bond for Valdez at $2 million. Effingham County Public Defender Scott Schmidt will represent Valdez, and his first appearance in court with counsel will be at 11am on October 6.

The matter is still under investigation by the Illinois State Police and the US Drug Enforcement Adminstration. Altamont city police assisted State Police with the traffic stop.