Aurora Man, 31, Sentenced To 19 Years In Drug Trafficking Case

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CHICAGO (CBS)--An Aurora man connected to another man caught driving with cocaine and heroin concealed inside a semi-truck tire was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Gabriel Aguilar Velez, 31, pleaded guilty in Kane County to felony drug conspiracy charges, according to the Attorney General's office. He was charged with a felony count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, according to prosecutors.

(Attorney General's Office)

Velez was charged in July 2017, along with Juan Carlos Rivera-Arroyo, 35, and Israel Tavizon, 36; after the three men were caught conspiring to distribute large amounts of cocaine and heroin in Kane County, according to the Attorney General.

Rivera-Arroyo was previously sentenced to 19 years in prison, and Tavizon was sentenced to 19 years and six months in prison.

The Attorney General's office said cocaine is the most commonly seized drug in Kane County.

Heroin and other opioids were to blame for about 135 deaths in Kane County during the past two years, the Attorney General's office said in a press release.

The drug ring was exposed after law enforcement officers pulled Tavizon over in 2017 and found more than 11 kilograms of heroin and more than 11 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a semi-truck tire inside the truck he was driving, the Attorney General's office said.