Zion Man Pleads Guilty To Racketeering Travel, Gets 5 Years

ZION, IL — A Lake County native arrested last year in Indiana was sentenced Friday to 5 years in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

Andre Neal, 44, of Zion, was arrested on a northern Indiana toll road on July 23, 2020, with a duffel bag containing a "large amount of cash and cocaine," federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

A year later, federal prosecutors charged Neal with a single count of interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Neal agreed immediately to plea guilty, according to court records.

In his plea agreement, Neal admitted that he did have cocaine at the time and the $110,020 in cash that officers found in his duffel bag had come "from the drug business."

Neal, who has two prior felony convictions, must forfeit that cash. He could have also faced a fine of up to $250,000, but U.S. District Judge Damon Leichty waived it.

Defense attorney Jonathan Brayman argued two years in prison was sufficient. At the time of his arrest, Neal was drinking heavily and "making extremely poor decisions," according to his defense attorney.

Neal, who grew up in North Chicago, started using alcohol, marijuana and hard drugs as a teen after learning that the woman who raised him was not his actual biological mother, his attorney said. In letters to the judge, members of his family and colleagues said he had been making positive and productive choices in his life during the year since his arrest.