Romel Michael Turner, aged 31, of Peoria, Illinois, was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison for distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm handed down the sentence on March 25, 2025. Turner had previously been sentenced in Peoria County Circuit Court in October 2023 to six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) for methamphetamine possession and was scheduled to self-surrender in January 2024.
However, before his incarceration, Turner committed additional crimes by distributing methamphetamine at least three times in December 2023. He pled guilty to these charges in August 2024 and has been in IDOC custody since January 2024 for the county offenses. His parole on the county charges is projected for December 2026.
Judge Mihm ordered Turner’s federal sentence to run consecutively to his current IDOC sentence. Federal law stipulates that distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine can carry penalties ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, a minimum of five years supervised release, and fines up to $10 million.
The investigation involved was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration's Springfield Resident Office, Peoria Multi-Agency Enforcement Group (P-MEG), and Peoria Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz prosecuted the case.
The sentencing is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice to combat illegal immigration, dismantle cartels, and eliminate transnational criminal organizations. The effort seeks to protect communities from violent criminals by coordinating resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
