Dupo Man Found Guilty Of Drug House And Firearms Charges

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today that Jacob Nelson, 32, of Dupo, IL has been found guilty of “Maintaining Drug-Involved Premises” and “Unlawful Possession of Firearms by a User of Controlled Substances.”

The guilty verdicts were returned in United States District Court in East St. Louis on Thursday, April 11, 2013, after a four-day jury trial. Nelson was acquitted on a fourth count of “Distribution of Heroin Resulting in Death.”

According to evidence presented at trial, Nelson sold heroin, cocaine, marijuana, hydrocodone (Vicodin) and alprazolam (Xanax) from a house on North Third Street where he resided in Dupo, between June 2010 and July 2012.

Nelson’s sentence hearing is scheduled for July 22, 2013 at 9 a.m., in United States District Court in East St. Louis. Nelson faces a maximum possible sentence of no more than 20 years imprisonment.

The investigation which resulted in Nelson’s conviction was conducted by the Columbia, IL Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jungmin Lee.