Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Raymond O. Winbush, Sr., 43, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois to a total of 189 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and possession of a firearm by a felon. The prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.
Evidence presented at sentencing showed that Winbush had sold methamphetamine to a confidential source from his residence in East St. Louis on three different occasions in August and September of 2016. Agents from the St. Clair County Drug Tactical Unit then obtained a search warrant for his residence and found 845 grams of "ice" (high purity methamphetamine), 115 grams of cocaine, and three loaded firearms - one of which was stolen. Defendant had previously been convicted of a felony drug charge and a felony weapons charge.
At sentencing, the Honorable Chief Judge Michael J. Reagan stated, "In 17 years on the bench, I’ve found that the drug that causes the most carnage is methamphetamine, but has recently been supplanted by heroin and fentanyl." Noting the purity level of the methamphetamine Winbush possessed, Judge Reagan commented that "Walter White from the show Breaking Bad would be jealous." Judge Reagan stated that he needed to impose a sentence that would protect the public from future crimes of Winbush and deter others from engaging in the distribution of narcotics.
The investigation was conducted by the St. Clair County Drug Tactical Unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Illinois State Police Crime Laboratory, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura V. Reppert.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
