SIKESTON, MISSOURI, 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, CHRIS S. KING, age 27, of Sikeston, MO, formerly of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $620 in fines by the United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. KING previously plead guilty to two counts of Distribution of Crack Cocaine, and one count of Possession With Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, all in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). The evidence established that KING sold of crack cocaine to a confidential informant two times on June 26, 2006. Those sales were tape recorded by law enforcement. The evidence further established that on November 30, 2006, KING was caught in possession of less than 5 grams of crack cocaine after participating in a drug deal in Mt. Vernon. The evidence established that he was responsible for the distribution of a total of more that 50 grams of crack cocaine in Mt. Vernon between 2005 and 2007.

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.