Pretrial Article from March 2011
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_e240101c-52d7-58db-ad0b-552ee8a08e64.html
Illinois feds, police, target drug cases that kill
O'FALLON, ILL. • Faced with an "unprecedented" boom in the number of heroin overdose deaths, Southern Illinois' top federal prosecutor issued a stern warning Thursday to users and dealers of illegal drugs: "We're going to treat every overdose as a potential homicide."
U.S. Attorney Steve Wigginton's admonishment came during the announcement of a new partnership of federal, state and local law enforcement aimed at reducing the deaths due to heroin and prescription drug overdoses, the two largest categories.
St. Clair and Madison counties have seen 35 heroin overdose deaths since January 2010, Wigginton said. Madison County saw five heroin deaths in 2007, seven in 2009 and 18 in 2010.
The group will include police, prosecutors and federal forensic, intelligence and computer experts, armed with federal statutes that carry potential penalties of 20 years to life in prison.
Wigginton's office has handled eight overdose death prosecutions in recent years, winning significant prison sentences, he said.
As recently as Feb. 22, an East St. Louis man, Tavis D. Doyle, was convicted of distribution of heroin resulting in death, and two other drug charges, for selling a lethal dose of heroin in his crack house in 2009, prosecutors have said.
After Jonathan "J.J." Ward, 30, of Effingham, overdosed, prosecutors said, Doyle didn't allow anyone to call 911 but instead tried to revive him by placing frozen meat in his pants.
Doyle is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Wigginton said that federal and local prosecutors will coordinate efforts to find the "most appropriate" jurisdiction for prosecution. He noted that federal law does not require him to prove that the supplier of a fatal dose meant for the user to die. Nor do prosecutors have to prove that the supplier was a major drug dealer.
He also warned anyone who would clean up after an overdose death or hide drug evidence that prosecutors could use obstruction of justice or other charges to strongly encourage cooperation.
Wigginton said that he hopes drug users and dealers will hear about the initiative and realize the consequences of what they're doing.
St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly said his county was not only seeing an uptick in heroin cases, but also in associated violence, including shaken-baby cases.
"If you're dealing in heroin, you're dealing with death, and you will be prosecuted accordingly," he said.
Madison County State's Attorney Thomas Gibbons has his own warning: "We want parents to know. We want teachers and schools to know. This is in your community already," he said.
The Post-Dispatch reported last year on a "heroin summit" in St. Louis after a similar spike in deaths on the Missouri side of the river. St. Louis and St. Louis County alone recorded 100 heroin overdose deaths in 2009.
In both cases, officials blame a spike in purity — many multiples of what was once found on the streets — and an increase in the availability of the drug.
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http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...2d7-58db-ad0b-552ee8a08e64.html#ixzz1WTk8BXvk
