CHICAGO – A judge this week sentenced a man to six years in prison for distributing cocaine while dressed as a banana in River North. She gave him five more years for a second cocaine distribution charge, which he picked up after a stolen truck he was riding in crashed into the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe monument in Lakeview while the banana case was pending.
Judge Aleksandra Gillespie ordered Luis Rodriguez, 30, to serve the sentences consecutively.
Rodriguez’s troubles began on Oct. 29, 2022, when a stolen Audi crashed in the 100 block of West Hubbard, and a paramedic told police they saw a man dressed in a banana suit running from the wreck.
Rodriguez, wearing a banana costume, returned to the scene while police were present. In his arrest report, officers noted that he was “the only person in the area wearing a banana costume.” Police said he threw away a bag of cocaine worth about $2,500 shortly before they arrested him.
Police allegedly found a loaded handgun with an extended magazine in the driver’s door of the Audi, but they never charged Rodriguez with possessing it.
Less than two months later, a stolen Dodge Ram 1500 TRX, allegedly used by a gunman who shot at a man near Lake View High School, struck a tree and crashed into the massive Goethe statue at Diversey and Sheridan on the North Side from Lincoln Park.
Rodriguez was one of four men arrested after police spotted them running from the scene of the accident. Police found a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun on the rear floorboard of the truck and another handgun in the front passenger compartment. As in the River North case, prosecutors have not charged him with possessing the weapons.
However, they did charge him with manufacturing and supplying cocaine after police reportedly found $9,185 in cash and two plastic bags believed to be cracked in his fanny pack.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty in both cases to manufacturing and supplying cocaine. Prosecutors dropped a dismissal of the electronic monitoring charge filed against him while the cases were pending. He arrived at the Stateville Correctional Center on Thursday. His scheduled parole date has not yet been announced, but with good behavior he should serve approximately 50% of his 11-year sentence.
