NEWS RELEASE

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS MAN SENTENCED FOR CRACK COCAINE AND FIREARM OFFENSES

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on December 3, 2010, DENAILL WARD, age 30, of Fairview Heights, Illinois, was sentenced in federal district court, East St. Louis, Illinois, to 60 months’ imprisonment, 4 years’ supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and a fine of $175. WARD had previously pled guilty on September 2, 2010, to possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine, and possession of a firearm by a user of a controlled substance.

The case resulted from the efforts of the W.A.V.E. (Working Against Violent Elements) Task Force, which focuses its efforts on combating violent crime in East St. Louis, Washington Park, and surrounding communities. W.A.V.E. was formed in November, 2009, and is a collaboration of law enforcement officers from the Illinois State Police, the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI), the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, the East St. Louis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the United States Marshals Service. The W.A.V.E. Task Force receives financial support through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative, a nationwide federal program which endeavors to address gun-related violence. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen B. Clark.