Suburban men sentenced after federal investigation into Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline

CHICAGO - Two suburban men have received their sentences following a federal investigation into a Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline. 

Sheldon Morales, 42, of Morton Grove and Eduardo Santana, 47, of Skokie, were sentenced after conspiring with a supplier in Mexico and two inmates in a Texas prison for drug trafficking, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday. 

Both men trafficked meth, fentanyl, and cocaine from Mexico to Evanston and Morton Grove in 2019, prosecutors said. 

Their drug activity was discovered after authorities tapped their cell phones, seized packages and secured video surveillance. 

Morales and Santana were convicted in Chicago in 2022 on a charge of drug conspiracy. 

Officials said Morales was also convicted of an individual drug charge "related to his attempted possession of meth and fentanyl." 

Santana was sentenced Tuesday of this week to 16 years and eight months in prison. Morales was handed his sentence on April 16 to 19 years and seven months behind bars, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. 

Two others were also convicted in the drug investigation – Darius Morales, 34, of Evanston and Demetrius Shavers, 42, of Chicago. 

Morales was sentenced in 2022 to nearly eight years in prison for illegally possessing a semi-automatic handgun in Evanston, authorities said. 

In 2021, Shavers was sentenced to over six and a half years in prison for trafficking heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl in Chicago.