Man arrested at Crystal Lake motel with almost $750K in meth, fentanyl gets 12 years in prison

A Chicago man has pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing almost $750,000 in methamphetamine and fentanyl when he was arrested in Crystal Lake last year.

German Armenta-Ruiz, 59, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He is required to serve half his prison term followed by 18 months of mandatory supervised release, according to the judgment order in McHenry County court signed by Judge Mark Gerhardt.

Armenta-Ruiz was arrested by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force in the parking lot of a Motel 8 with Jesus Benitez-Estrada, 43, of Chicago, who also was charged with possession of and intent to deliver more than 900 grams of fentanyl mixed with methamphetamine, Class X felonies, documents show. Benitez-Estrada’s case still is pending, and he is due in court May 13.

At the men’s initial court hearing, where they were detained pretrial in the county jail, prosecutors said the pair possessed more than 16 pounds of methamphetamine mixed with fentanyl. The street value of the narcotics was determined to be $746,940, Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Gregorowicz said.

At the hearing, Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger argued for the defendants’ pretrial release, saying that neither man has a criminal history and they have jobs and families to care for. He also said the state hasn’t shown that they were anything other than “unwitting couriers.”

“Dealers like to use people with little criminal background to transport drugs without their knowledge,” Giesinger said.

Armenta-Ruiz is receiving 216 days of credit in jail since his arrest. An additional count of delivery of more than 900 grams of methamphetamine, a Class X felony, was dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea, records show.

An attempt to reach Armenta-Ruiz’s attorney for comment was not successful.