EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (KNWA/KFTA) — A Bentonville man was sentenced to almost six years in federal prison yesterday after he admitted to transporting 11 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.

Leonardo Hernandez, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

In addition to the 70-month sentence, Hernandez will serve two years of supervised release.

A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Illinois said that a confidential informant working with the Drug Enforcement Administration set up a controlled purchase of the drug from a Mexico-based supplier in 2021.

The informant met two men in a Ford F-150 at a truck stop in Illinois. The men told him that there were 11 pounds of methamphetamine in the tires of a lawn mower that was on a trailer connected to the truck.

The men were on their way to a mechanic shop to remove the tires when DEA conducted a traffic stop and arrested.

“Out-of-state drug dealers frequent southern Illinois roadways to execute plans for distribution across the country,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “DEA plays a critical role to help disband criminal drug rings, and I thank the agents who worked this case.”

Hernandez’s co-defendant Luis A. Aguilar-Caldera, 31, of Chula Vista, California, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 70 months in prison on April 12.