SALEM MAN SENTENCED ON HEROIN DISTRIBUTION CHARGES

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on August 17, 2009, WILLIAM A. HILL, age 36, of Salem, Illinois, was sentenced in the United States District Court in Benton, Illinois. HILL was sentenced to 170 months’ imprisonment, fined $800, and placed on 3 years supervised release.

HILL had previously pleaded guilty to two counts in a federal indictment, which charged him with distribution of heroin on September 9 and 13, 2008. The distributions occurred in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

The investigation in this case was a cooperative effort between the Joint Narcotics Unit of the Mt. Vernon Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Illinois State Police pursuant to their participation in the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative.

Project Safe Neighborhoods is a joint and cooperative effort of the United States Attorney’s Office, the Jefferson County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies directed at removing guns and drugs from our communities.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George Norwood.