People v. Cortez

Following a jury trial, defendant, Venancio Cortez, was found guilty of the delivery of more than 30 grams of a controlled substance (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 56/2, par. 1401(a)) and was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in the penitentiary. Defendant contends on appeal that (1) the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury of his theory of defense, and (2) that the sentence imposed by the trial court was excessive.

Santos Claudio, an agent of the Illinois Bureau of Investigation, testified that on January 27, 1976, during the early part of the afternoon, he and an informant, Mr. Reyes,…