May 31, 2011
Contact: Robert J. Hanson
St. Louis Division
314-538-4670

BENTON, IL. - Stephen R. Wigginton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that a Thompsonville man plead guilty on May 31, 2011, in United States District Court at Benton, Illinois, to a one count indictment charging him with Conspiracy to Manufacture a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine).

Jonathan Pike, 41, of Thompsonville, Illinois, entered his guilty plea today. The violation took place from on or about April 2008, through February 2010, in Williamson County in the Southern District of Illinois. Sentencing is scheduled for September 8, 2011, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Benton.

At his plea, Pike admitted to the court that he and others would obtain pseudoephedrine pills for use in manufacturing methamphetamine and then would manufacture the
methamphetamine and distribute it to each other as well as to others in Williamson County. Because the amount of methamphetamine involved in the conspiracy was more than 500 grams, the offense carries with it a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment and a fine of $4 million, or both. Any term of imprisonment must be followed by a term of not less than five years’ of supervised release.

This investigation was conducted jointly by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Illinois State Police, the Williamson and Franklin County Sheriffs’ Offices and the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group.