Two jailed for selling cocaine near school
Selling cocaine within the shadow of an elementary school will cost a pair of local men 15 years in prison.
The defendants, Fidencio Perez and Jauquin Attecha Juarez, entered guilty pleas recently to charges of sale and/or possession of cocaine within a school zone. They both received 15-year sentences and were fined $2,000 plus costs.
Due to the fact their crimes happened within 1,000 feet of a school, they will be required to serve 100 percent of their sentences as part of the law which seeks to crack down on people who traffic drugs near, or on, school grounds. Perez will also be deported from the country once he has served his sentence.
The sentences come after lawmen raided their home at the intersection of Clark Boulevard and Peers Street this spring. The house is located within 1,000 feet of West Elementary School, putting it under penalties contained in the school zone law.
Lawmen say undercover drug buys had been made at the residence prior to the surprise raid. Officers reportedly found one of the suspects trying to flush some of the cocaine down the toilet as they entered the house.
Adding to the sentences was the fact the men were charged with possessing .5 grams or greater of the drug. Possession of such a large amount of the drug pushes the penalty for its possession into a higher felony level. Added together with enhancement for a school zone law violation, the counts became Class A felonies for both men. Their pleas brought them the minimum sentence for a Class A felony, with the maximum punishment being 25 years.