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Bluelighter
I wish they said what it was
Two plead guilty to having LSD look-alike, likely first case of its kind in Coles County
CHARLESTON (JG-TC) — Two people admitted to having an LSD look-alike in what the case’s prosecutor said is the likely the first of its type in Coles County.
Sara E. Douglas and Michael A. Imburgia both pleaded guilty to charges accusing them of having a substance, which has a similar effect as LSD, in Charleston during April of last year.
The chemical compound they had is a hallucinogen as LSD is but isn’t actually listed as an illegal substance in Illinois law, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Bryant Hitchings, who prosecuted the cases. However, Douglas and Imburgia were charged under laws that make it illegal to have and distribute a substance they represented as a narcotic, Hitchings explained.
Douglas, 20, for whom records list an address in Chatham, and Imburgia, 22, whose address on record is in Mount Prospect, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance analog, a felony offense. Hitchings said they were Eastern Illinois University students when they allegedly had the substance in Charleston on April 13, 2012.
With the agreement reached in the two suspects’ cases, both were sentenced to two years of what’s called “first offender” probation. The sentence allows for no record of a conviction if there are no violations of the probation requirements.
Hitchings said the compound the two suspects were accused of having is manufactured as a narcotic but its relatively recent appearance means it’s only illegal in a few states. The first time police in the United States encountered it was in 2010, he said.
“It’s kind of a recent synthetic that’s entered the U.S. from Europe,” Hitchings said.
Officers with the Mattoon-based East Central Illinois Task Force drug investigation unit arrested Douglas and Imburgia after an investigation that began based on tips to police, Hitchings said. He added that Douglas and Imburgia were suspected of having the drug and providing it to others but not manufacturing it.
Douglas was originally charged with possession and delivery of LSD but those charges were later dismissed, and Hitchings said that was because lab results showed the actual makeup of the compound. New charges alleging the look-alike substance were then filed against her and against Imburgia.
Hitchings said the substance the suspects had was placed on perforated paper squares, the same way LSD is divided into doses.
The charge to which Douglas and Imburgia pleaded guilty could have resulted in a prison sentence of one to three years. A charge of distribution of a look-alike substance against each suspect, which could have resulted in two- to five-year prison sentence, was dismissed with the agreement reached in the cases.
Probation terms for both Douglas and Imburgia included substance abuse treatment and payment of just more than $6,000 in fines. Each also received a six-month jail sentence but that was stayed, meaning the jail time won’t be imposed now but some or all of it could be ordered later if there are any violations.
Circuit Judge Mitchell Shick sentenced the two suspects under the terms of plea agreements that Hitching and defense attorneys recommended. Springfield attorney Daniel Fultz represented Douglas and Bret Rich of Clayton, Mo., was Imburgia’s attorney.
http://jg-tc.com/news/local/two-ple...cle_b9237a1e-b8bb-11e2-aef0-0019bb2963f4.html
Two plead guilty to having LSD look-alike, likely first case of its kind in Coles County
CHARLESTON (JG-TC) — Two people admitted to having an LSD look-alike in what the case’s prosecutor said is the likely the first of its type in Coles County.
Sara E. Douglas and Michael A. Imburgia both pleaded guilty to charges accusing them of having a substance, which has a similar effect as LSD, in Charleston during April of last year.
The chemical compound they had is a hallucinogen as LSD is but isn’t actually listed as an illegal substance in Illinois law, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Bryant Hitchings, who prosecuted the cases. However, Douglas and Imburgia were charged under laws that make it illegal to have and distribute a substance they represented as a narcotic, Hitchings explained.
Douglas, 20, for whom records list an address in Chatham, and Imburgia, 22, whose address on record is in Mount Prospect, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance analog, a felony offense. Hitchings said they were Eastern Illinois University students when they allegedly had the substance in Charleston on April 13, 2012.
With the agreement reached in the two suspects’ cases, both were sentenced to two years of what’s called “first offender” probation. The sentence allows for no record of a conviction if there are no violations of the probation requirements.
Hitchings said the compound the two suspects were accused of having is manufactured as a narcotic but its relatively recent appearance means it’s only illegal in a few states. The first time police in the United States encountered it was in 2010, he said.
“It’s kind of a recent synthetic that’s entered the U.S. from Europe,” Hitchings said.
Officers with the Mattoon-based East Central Illinois Task Force drug investigation unit arrested Douglas and Imburgia after an investigation that began based on tips to police, Hitchings said. He added that Douglas and Imburgia were suspected of having the drug and providing it to others but not manufacturing it.
Douglas was originally charged with possession and delivery of LSD but those charges were later dismissed, and Hitchings said that was because lab results showed the actual makeup of the compound. New charges alleging the look-alike substance were then filed against her and against Imburgia.
Hitchings said the substance the suspects had was placed on perforated paper squares, the same way LSD is divided into doses.
The charge to which Douglas and Imburgia pleaded guilty could have resulted in a prison sentence of one to three years. A charge of distribution of a look-alike substance against each suspect, which could have resulted in two- to five-year prison sentence, was dismissed with the agreement reached in the cases.
Probation terms for both Douglas and Imburgia included substance abuse treatment and payment of just more than $6,000 in fines. Each also received a six-month jail sentence but that was stayed, meaning the jail time won’t be imposed now but some or all of it could be ordered later if there are any violations.
Circuit Judge Mitchell Shick sentenced the two suspects under the terms of plea agreements that Hitching and defense attorneys recommended. Springfield attorney Daniel Fultz represented Douglas and Bret Rich of Clayton, Mo., was Imburgia’s attorney.
http://jg-tc.com/news/local/two-ple...cle_b9237a1e-b8bb-11e2-aef0-0019bb2963f4.html
