ATF Bust In Joliet: 7 Guns In Christmas Tree Box, Kilo In Backpack

JOLIET, IL — If you were curious how the illegal drug underworld operates in Joliet, last week's arrests and denials of pretrial release for three Chicago men in their 40s provides a glimpse into how tens of thousands of dollars in cash are bartered for guns and cocaine, Will County court documents reveal.

The three criminal co-defendants are: Juan Jose Ruiz-Lozolla, 48, of Chicago's South Albany Avenue, Arturo Gonzalez, 48, of Spaulding Avenue, and Francisco Gonzalez, 44, of West Marquette Road. All three Chicago men entered Will County's Jail on Dec. 12. All three will remain there indefinitely now that their pretrial release was denied by a judge.

Assistant Will County State's Attorney Tricia McKenna presented the petition to deny pretrial release for the three men busted by the ATF and Joliet's Metropolitan Narcotics Squad.

The three Chicagoans are now charged with 15 felonies, including multiple counts of unlawful manufacture or delivery of controlled substances, armed violence, unlawful sale or delivery of guns and gunrunning.

According to McKenna's petition to deny the three men pretrial release:

• On Oct. 12, Ruiz-Lozolla and Arturo Gonzalez, whose mugshots are pictured above, arranged to sell an ounce of cocaine for $1,200 plus one handgun for $1,500 to a confidential informant working for the ATF and Joliet Metro Narcotics Squad. The deal was made in Joliet, and the two men left with $2,700 cash after providing 31 grams of cocaine and a Tisas-Trabzon semi-automatic pistol to the police's confidential informant.
• On Oct. 25, Ruiz-Lozolla and Arturo Gonzalez met up with the informant for a second deal, this time at the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot in Bolingbrook. They sold the police informant a Glock semi-automatic pistol with a magazine containing 10 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition in the gun box for $800.
• On Nov. 1, Ruiz-Lozolla and Arturo Gonzalez returned to Joliet for their third deal. They sold the undercover informant a SCCY semi-automatic handgun with its serial number scratched off for $1,500. They also sold the informant 29 grams of cocaine for $1,100.
• Four weeks later, on Nov. 29, Ruiz-Lozolla and Arturo Gonzalez returned to Joliet for their fourth deal with the informant. This deal was more sophisticated. They sold the ATF and Joliet MANS undercover informant two SCCY semi-automatic pistols, one FEG semi-automatic pistol and one Taurus revolver for a grand total of $5,600.
• Then came their fifth and final drug and gun transaction, the one that landed Ruiz-Lozolla, Arturo Gonzalez and a third person, Francisco Gonzalez, in the Will County Jail for an indefinite period of time.
• On Dec. 12, the Chicago men returned to Joliet to sell a kilogram of cocaine for $19,500 plus seven guns for $10,400. At 1:50 p.m. Ruiz-Lozolla and Francisco Gonzalez rolled up in a Jeep Grand Cherokee at an undisclosed Joliet warehouse. A second vehicle, a white Polestar, arrived with Francisco Gonzalez as the passenger. He exited and retrieved a backpack from under the hood. Meanwhile, Arturo Gonzalez and Ruiz-Lozolla retrieved a Christmas tree box from the rear of their Jeep. The two Gonzalez men met in the warehouse parking lot, and that is where Arturo retrieved the backpack from Francisco. At that point, Francisco went and sat in the Jeep. Once Arturo Gonzalez and Ruiz-Lozolla opened the Christmas tree box, it was not filled with Santa's Christmas presents.

Instead, according to prosecutors, it contained:

• 1 Polymer 80 semi-automatic pistol
• 1 Century Arms Inc. semi-automatic pistol
• 1 Ruger semi-automatic 9 mm pistol
• 1 Browning Arms semi-automatic pistol
• 1 personally made semi-automatic rifle with no model and no serial number
• 1 Dan Wesson Arms revolver
• 1 Ruger semi-automatic 9 mm gun
• Inside the backpack, wrapped in cellophane packaging, was 1,070 grams of cocaine.

"At this time, all subjects were taken into custody," prosecutor McKenna noted.

According to prosecutors:

During his interview with police, Ruiz-Lozolla said he bought three of the guns to sell, while Arturo Gonzalez bought all the other guns. "Ruiz-Lozolla stated he takes a cut of the profits of the cocaine sales," court documents show.

Arturo Gonzalez would not provide police with any information.

As for Francisco Gonzalez, he said he had his wife drive him to Joliet and Bolingbrook to look for a job, according to court documents. He refused to divulge any information about what was found in his backpack. "Francisco Gonzalez stated he was a Latin King Street Name 'Paco' from the Boulevard set," documents said.