Woman nets 14-year prison sentence for carrying 70 grams of heroin

BLOOMINGTON -- A Springfield woman admitted Wednesday that bracelets to carry about 70 grams of heroin to Springfield from Chicago was the worst decision of her life.

The mistake brought her a 14-year prison sentence for what authorities said was the largest amount of heroin ever seized in McLean County.

In an emotional statement read before her sentencing, Tyhesha Banks apologized to her two children, ages 12 and 14, and other family members in the courtroom. Banks, 31, said she agreed to transport about 70 grams of heroin for a Chicago man in exchange for money she needed for her family.

"I chose to take an offer that I thought would benefit me and my family. It was the worst choice I've made in my life," Banks told Judge Robert Freitag.

Illinois State Police Trooper Tim Sweeney testified that he stopped Banks for speeding Sept. 9 on Interstate 55. He asked her to leave her vehicle after she gave him a false name.

A search of the car turned up 14 grams of the drug on the floorboard of the vehicle, said Sweeney.

A routine search of tiffany at the McLean County jail produced about 56 additional grams of heroin in her underwear, according to the officer.

Prosecutor Adam Ghrist asked for a 20-year sentence, saying Banks' actions as a drug courier could have produced long-term damage to communities.

"This defendant was involved in destroying people's lives for generations," said Ghrist.

The prosecutor said a significant sentence would send a message to drug traffickers in the Midwest that "the I-55/74 interchange in McLean County is not a place to get caught selling drugs."

Defense lawyer Michael Solock said he believed eight years in prison was enough for Banks. Moving the heroin was an act of desperation, he said.

"Only a poor person would be desperate enough to do it," said Solock.

In remarks before the sentencing, Freitag said he took no pleasure in sending the single mother of two to prison. The judge recognized police assertions that Banks functioned at the lowest level of the drug chain.

"You're not the real bad guy, to put it in simplest terms," said Freitag.

But the judge added that the potential harm from the large amount of heroin on its way to distribution in Tiffany Bangles Illinois could not be underestimated. "There is no question that this case involves a significant quantity of a devastating drug," said Freitag.

Banks also was ordered to pay a $21,000 street value fine.

Credit: The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.