RICHLAND CO.— Richland County authorities have been working overtime in their renewed efforts in the ongoing war on drugs.
In the past several weeks, lawmen have taken nine druggies, including dealers, off the streets.
Arrests began August 31 and, according to authorities, more arrests are expected in the very near future as their ongoing investigation bears fruit.
Lawrence/Crawford meth connection
A pair of Bridgeport men and a Robinson man are among the latest suspected dopers taken off the streets by Richland authorities.
Mark A. York, 52, of the 700 block of Washington St., Bridgeport, has been charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine after authorities say on Aug. 31 he had less than five grams of the drug on his person while at 3920 East Elbow Lane, Olney.
But York wasn’t alone on Elbow Lane.
Kelly W. Cessna, 45, of the 600 block of Madison St., Bridgeport, was also present and charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine less than five grams.
Police say that Michael L. Goff, II, 36, of the 1000 block of East Main St., Robinson, was taken into custody along with York and Cessna at the same time and charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver 15-100 grams.
Cessna was convicted in Lawrence County February 11, 2009, of felony Domestic Battery and sentenced to probation for 12 years and ordered to pay $1,888.90 in fines and fees, of which he still owes $588.90.
Another Lawrence County felony conviction for Domestic Battery February 15, 2012 earned Cessna a sentence of two years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
Goff was convicted in Crawford County April 4, 2002 of Resisting a Peace Officer and sentenced to jail for four days and probation for one year.
At the time of his arrest Goff was serving a court supervision sentence handed him Sept. 29, 2014 after he was convicted of Battery Causing Bodily Harm.
York is a convicted felon from Lawrence County having been found guilty December 27, 2002 of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (prescription medication) for which he was sentenced to home confinement for 30 days and probation for 24 months.
Two years later, November 23, 2004, again in Lawrence, York was convicted of Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and sentenced to conditional discharge for 12 months.
Apparently his ability to do basic math has been hampered by one drug or another given a May 5, 2005 judgment against him, in Lawrence County, on behalf of Peoples State Bank in Newton for $29,355.81.
York was released from the custody of Richland County authorities September 2, after a $1,500 cash bond was posted on his behalf by Chuck York, of the 700 block of Washington St., Bridgeport.
Cessna was released from custody Sept. 11, after a $1,500 cash bond was posted on his behalf by Brenda Packey, of the 200 block of East Locust St., Sumner.
Goff, the suspected drug dealer, on the other hand remains behind bars in the Richland County Detention Center on $10,000 cash bond.
Olney’s Boyd/Turrentine suspected dealers
A pair of suspected methamphetamine, pot and pill dealers were taken into custody at 1:06 a.m. September 2.
Nathan A. Turrentine, 24, and Jessica Lynn Boyd, 26, both of the 1800 block of East Main St., Room #1, have been charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver after authorities say they were taken into custody at their apartment with 5-15 grams of meth, Unlawful Possession of Cannabis 10-30 grams, Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (alprazolam) and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia identified as a glass smoking pipe used to inhale cannabis.
Boyd, even for apparent lack of common sense when it comes to roommates, has little in the way of a criminal history which includes a battery conviction and a pending charge of Disorderly Conduct from June 1, 2015.
Turrentine, affectionately referred to as “Lil Nate” by his homies, has been in trouble with the law since about the time he could walk.
He earned his first felony August 13, 2009 (in the adult realm, anyway; juvenile records are unavailable but are highly likely, as a person doesn’t just turn 18 and decide to embark on a life of serious crime), when he was convicted of Property Damage $300-$10,000 for which he was sentenced to 60 days in the county jail, probation for two years and ordered to undergo drug treatment, which doesn’t appear to have had much affect.
In May of 2012 Lil Nate was convicted of Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and sentenced to conditional discharge, ordered to attend a “special facility,” apparently not special enough to turn Lil Nate from his criminal ways and he was ordered to pay $1,552 in fines and fees, of which he still owes $987.
Turrentine also has a criminal history in Jasper County including a Burglary conviction in 2009.
Boyd and her roomie Lil Nate were both housed in the Richland County jail on $7,500 cash bond each.
South Whittle cannabis operation
Lawmen nabbed two suspected cannabis dealers on Whittle Avenue on the same day they nabbed Turrentine and Boyd.
According to information filed in the two Whittle cases, the infamous Amy Acord has reared her beady head again, along with Robert G. Goff.
Acord, 33, of the 100 block of East Harmon St., Olney and Goff, 37, of the 1200 block of South Whittle, Olney, have both been charged with Unlawful Possession of Cannabis with Intent to Deliver 30-500 grams of the weed.
Acord is a convicted felon from Sept. 12, 2008 after she was found guilty of Battery Causing Bodily Harm for which she was sentenced to conditional discharge for 12 months.
Acord was convicted June 8, 2011 of Manufacture/Delivery of Cannabis and sentenced to probation for two years.
Both Groff and Acord were housed in the county jail on $2,000 cash bond each.
Keepin’ up with the Jones’
Also on September 2, authorities nabbed an Olney pair charging them with felony meth crimes.
Reports indicate that Shawn M. Jones, 43, of the 600 block of East York and Mary Laraine Jones, 46, of the 1000 block of West Main St., Olney, have both been charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine after police say they discovered the pair at Mary’s residence having less than five grams of the drug on their persons.
Shawn Jones is a convicted felon having earned himself a stay in IDOC of one year December 13, 2002 following a conviction for Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (prescription medication) and Failure to Report Accident.
He was also ordered to pay $3,876.84 in fines and fees, of which he still owes $95.84.
Jones was convicted again August 27, 2004 of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (prescription medication) and sentenced to probation for 24 months and ordered to pay $2,170 in fines and fees, of which he still owes $2,070.
On or about November 24, 2004 Jones was charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Chemicals.
In a plea deal he pleaded guilty to an amended charge of Use of a Dangerous Place to Store a Controlled Substance for which he received a sentenced to IDOC of five years along with $465 in fines and fees, of which he still owes $440.
Jonesy was back on the streets in October 2007 with just enough time to get himself yet another felony conviction, this one for Unlawful Possession of Meth which earned him another sentence of four years in IDOC, apparently a place he feels right at home in.
He still owes $1,000 from that case.
And it appears that Jones was fresh from showering with his hairy buddies in prison at the time of his arrest following a June 21, 2012 conviction for Manufacture/Delivery of Cannabis, which earned him an IDOC sentence of four and a half years.
Jonesy still owes $830 in fines and fees from that case.
It appears that Mary Jones has a bit of a drug past herself.
At the time of her most recent arrest, Mary was serving a probation sentence of two years, handed to her February 21, 2014, following a felony conviction for Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine.
She was also ordered to attend a special facility.
It would seem Mary was too special for whatever facility she attended, if any.
She was also ordered to pay $6,441.25 of which she still owes $2,440.25
Both Joneses were housed in the county jail on $2,500 cash bond each.
Edwards arrests began as Richland investigation
Whether this massive roundup of alleged drug crims had anything to do with the arrests of two in Edwards County at the end of August has been undisclosed by authorities in both Richland and Edwards, but the possibility was strong considering the circumstances, and the fact that Edwards authorities confirmed that the arrests “began as a Richland County investigation.”
In the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 30, a traffic stop at the West Salem crossroads in Edwards, literally just a few miles south of the county line with Richland on Illinois 130, was effected by Edwards law enforcement.
They were able to ping driver Amanda M. Edgin, 29, of Keensburg in neighboring Wabash County with an Operating Uninsured in the traffic stop.
However, a subsequent search on suspicion of other activity besides failure to secure proper insurance for a motor vehicle (later dismissed) netted arrests of both Edgin and her passenger, Justin W. Cleaver, 40, of Olney, this coming after a significant amount of meth was allegedly found in the vehicle.
Cleaver was charged with Meth Delivery and Possession of Meth; Edging was also issued the possession charge, but authorities in Edwards have yet to file anything formally on that count.
This is Cleaver’s first Edwards County charge; however, he’s a practiced felon in Richland, having a 2002 conviction for Possession of a Controlled Substance; an Aggravated Meth Manufacturing conviction in 2006; and a 2012 Possession of Meth Precursor without a prescription felony, exemplifying Richland’s catch-and-release program that was so popular under David Hyde’s administration of justice there.
To add to the interest, reports indicate that Cleaver happens to be an older brother to the federally-indicted Jesse Benefield, who was hemmed up on the fed charges out of Richland earlier this year.
Cleaver is set for a hearing in Edwards – where prosecutor Mike Valentine simply doesn’t play with dope charges at all – on Sept. 21.
It appears new Richland County prosecutor Brad Vaughn isn’t going to cut those charged with dope in his county any slack, either, which might make for some meaningful sentences for these repeat offenders…and hopefully clean up the county of the scourge for which it’s become known.