Man sentenced to five years on cannabis charges

Online Staff Report

Anibal Rosas, 32, was sentenced by Judge Ronald White to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the offense of possession with intent to deliver 2,000 to 5,000 grams of cannabis. The defendant pled guilty Sept. 25.

Feb. 25, 2011, Winnebago County Sheriff’s police observed a tan Malibu driving on Pepper Drive commit a traffic violation and performed a traffic stop on it. The sheriff deputy ran the registration and learned the vehicle was registered to Rosas.

Sheriff deputies approached the driver, identified as Rosas. Both the driver and the passenger appeared to be nervous. The deputies spoke with the driver and smelled the strong odor of cannabis coming from inside the Malibu. Rosas admitted to having cannabis inside the vehicle and gave verbal consent to search his vehicle.

Police located in the trunk of the Malibu a large black plastic trash bag and smelled a strong odor of cannabis. Inside the black trash bag were two white trash bags with large bricks of a green leafy substance of suspected cannabis inside. The green leafy substance had an approximate gross weight of just under 5,000 grams, a portion of which subsequently field-tested positive for the probable presence of cannabis.

Possession with intent to deliver cannabis 2,000 to 5,000 grams of cannabis is a class 1 felony with a sentencing range four to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Posted Oct. 9, 2012