An El Paso, Texas man arrested in a traffic stop on I-72 in August has recently had his federal indictment unsealed by the Central District Court of Illinois.
David Hernandez, 39, of El Paso, Texas was arrested on the morning of August 20 by Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputies, South Jacksonville Police, the DEA, and members of the Central Illinois Enforcement Group after approximately 30,000 grams of powder cocaine was found in the bed of his pickup truck.
Charges filed by the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office were initially dismissed in deference to the federal court on August 26. The federal charges were not immediately made available at the time.
The charges were eventually unsealed by the federal court later that day on August 26 and Hernandez has been held in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s in Springfield. According to charging documents, Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Suttles was performing traffic interdiction on Interstate 72 near milepost 64 on August 20 when he observed a white Dodge Ram pick up truck with a Texas license plate traveling eastbound. He followed the vehicle, which exited north at the IL-267 exit and then proceeded into the parking lot of Love’s truck stop and then park behind a disabled semi truck. A Latino male, later determined to be Hernandez, went inside the store and then returned to the vehicle. It pulled out of the space by the disabled semi truck and then backed into a different parking space. The charging documents indicate that Deputy Suttles then parked his squad car parallel to Hernandez’s pickup truck and made contact with Hernandez.
During their interaction, the affidavit filed by DEA agent Amanda Petersen says that Suttles was told by Hernandez there was a loaded handgun in the vehicle, which Suttles retrieved without incident. Suttles then was given affirmation by Hernandez to search the truck. In the bed of the truck, Deputy Suttles is said to have found 4 five-gallon buckets pushed under a welder and an air compressor in the front of the bed of the truck. Deputy Suttles again sought permission from Hernandez to look inside the drums, to which Hernandez is said to have agreed. Inside the drums, Suttles is said to have found a total of 30 vacuum-sealed kilogram packages of a white powdery substance. The substance was field tested positive for containing cocaine, according to the affidavit. During further investigation, Hernandez is said to have admitted that he was to deliver the packages to another person and that he regularly carries a firearm for personal protection. The affidavit was requested to be sealed by the court because there were other unnamed individuals that law enforcement was said to be seeking in connection to the incident at the time of Hernandez’s arrest.
Hernandez has been charged for narcotics trafficking and possession of a firearm in commission of a drug crime. He currently remains held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals. A pretrial conference has been scheduled for October 8 with a jury trial set for October 20.