Texas Man Sentenced For Drug Conspiracy And Transporting Drug Proceeds

Woodrow Rutherford, 72, from Houston, Texas, was sentenced on October 8, 2015, in federal district court, in East St. Louis, Illinois, following his plea of guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance and one count of Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.

Rutherford was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was also fined $500 and ordered to pay $100 special assessment. Court proceedings revealed that Rutherford drove from Texas to Chicago in June 2013 at the command of a drug organization to collect money from the sale of marijuana. After collecting approximately $103,000 in drug proceeds, Rutherford then traveled through Madison County, Illinois, where his vehicle was stopped by law enforcement officials and the drug proceeds recovered.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel T. Kapsak.