MT. VERNON MAN SENTENCED FOR TRAFFICKING IN CRACK COCAINE

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 19, 2009, MARVELOUS C. BURNETT, age 29, of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment, four years supervised release and $750 in fines by the United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. BURNETT previously plead guilty to three counts of Distribution of less than 5 grams of Crack Cocaine, and one count of Possession With Intent to Distribute 10.3 grams of Crack Cocaine. All of the offenses occurred in Mt. Vernon during March and April of 2008. The evidence established that BURNETT sold crack cocaine to a confidential informant. Those sales were tape recorded by law enforcement. The evidence further established that following the final sale, BURNETT was caught in possession of 10.1 grams when he was arrested by law enforcement officers in Mt. Vernon. The evidence established that he was responsible for the distribution of a total of more that 269 grams of crack cocaine in Mt. Vernon between 2007 and 2008.

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, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, 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 Michael C. Carr.