News Release [print friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2009
Contact: Thomas E. Murphy
(314) 538-4660

JUN 19 -- (EAST ST. LOUIS, IL) - A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 18, Steve NIDES , age 30, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment, fined $1,000, and ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his incarceration, in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. NIDES had previously entered a guilty plea to Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana on March 13, 2009. NIDES is one of 13 defendants convicted in the marijuana distribution scheme.

According to evidence presented at NIDES’ sentence hearing, the conspirators moved large quantities of marijuana from Tucson, Arizona to East St. Louis, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lima, Ohio between 2001 and 2007. Much of the marijuana was sold in and around East St. Louis. NIDES shipped marijuana from Tucson to East St. Louis, and then transported cash back to Tucson after the marijuana had been sold. NIDES also recruited some of the other co-conspirators.

The investigation which resulted in NIDES’ conviction was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison.