The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today that Joseph L. Robinson pled guilty in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, IL, on May 29, 2013, to selling the heroin which caused the death of Donnie T. Bauman on Dec. 21, 2010.
U.S. Attorney Wigginton noted, “This successful prosecution is yet another step in our anti-heroin initiative. Our anti-heroin effort is designed to slow down and reverse the epidemic of heroin overdose deaths among young people in the Southern District of Illinois. As I have said to nearly 10,000 students, the penalties for drug dealers who choose to prey on young heroin users are very severe, and rightly so."
Robinson, 30, of Fairview Heights, IL, will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, IL on Monday, Sept. 16, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. Robinson has been confined since his arraignment on the federal charge on Nov. 10, 2011. Robinson faces a sentence of not less than 20 years and not more than life imprisonment.
Donnie T. Bauman was 22 years old when he died at his residence in Fairview Heights on Dec. 21, 2010. According to documents filed with the District Court at Robinson’s change of plea hearing, Robinson sold Bauman two “buttons" of heroin (approximately one fifth of a gram) for $20 in cash about seven hours before family members discovered Bauman’s body. Next to Bauman’s body, police found a syringe, which Robinson admitted he had provided to Bauman.
The investigation which resulted in Robinson’s conviction was conducted by the Fairview Heights Police Department, Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The case is assigned to AUSA Robert L. Garrison for prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
