A. COURTNEY COX, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

Nine Executive Drive, Fairview Heights, Illinois 62208, Telephone (618) 628-3700

For Immediate ReleaseJune 26, 2009

SHOBONIER MAN SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN METHAMPHETAMINE CONSPIRACY

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 26, 2009, LARRY G. TINKER, age 58, of Shobonier, Illinois, was sentenced in United States District Court, East St. Louis, Illinois, to 262 months’ imprisonment in the United States Bureau of Prisons and 10 years’ supervised release to follow imprisonment, for Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. TINKER was also ordered to pay a $875 fine and a $100 special assessment. The sentence followed TINKER’S guilty plea to the charge on March 19, 2009. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, the conspiracy operated in Fayette County, Illinois, from October 2006 through July 4, 2007, and during that time frame, a co-conspirator of TINKER traveled to Kansas City to purchase methamphetamine from a source of supply and returned to Fayette County, Illinois, where he distributed it to various customers, including TINKER. TINKER sometimes provided the coconspirator with money to invest in the purchases of methamphetamine and sometimes provided the coconspirator with a vehicle for making the trips to Kansas City. TINKER received approximately half of the methamphetamine the co-coconspirator obtained in Kansas City, which was approximately 500 grams, and distributed it to his own customers. In addition, TINKER supplied over-the-counter cold medications containing pseudoephedrine to those he knew were using it to manufacture methamphetamine, in exchange for methamphetamine. Pseudoephedrine is a necessary ingredient in one method of manufacturing methamphetamine.

This investigation, and the ongoing investigation into methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution activities in and around Fayette County, Illinois, is being conducted by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration in cooperation with Fayette County State’s Attorney Stephen Friedel. The ongoing investigation is conducted as part of the Fayette County Project Safe Neighborhoods DRAGUN Team Initiative, a cooperative effort of local, state and federal law enforcement, and state and federal prosecuting authorities, aimed at ridding communities of drugs and guns. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.