WASHINGTON PARK MAN SENTENCED FOR DRUG, FIREARM, AND WITNESS TAMPERING OFFENSES

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on October 16, 2009, LOUIS E. HOPKINS, a/k/a “Lou,” age 47, of Washington Park, Illinois, was sentenced in the United States District Court in East St. Louis to a total of 108 months of imprisonment and 6 years’ supervised release. HOPKINS was also fined $375, and ordered to pay a $600 special assessment. HOPKINS was convicted on July 8, 2009, of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, three counts of distribution of crack cocaine, and two counts of witness tampering, following a jury trial.

On February 8, 2008, agents of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI) executed a search warrant at HOPKINS’ residence after three controlled buys of “crack” cocaine were made from HOPKINS at the residence. Two rifles and a handgun were recovered during the search of the house. The evidence at trial showed that while incarcerated on the federal charges, HOPKINS contacted numerous individuals, including his wife, and instructed them to present false testimony to the federal agents investigating the case. HOPKINS also instructed his then-wife to hide from the federal agents, and not to speak with them. He also tried to convince her to present perjured testimony at his trial.

The investigation was conducted by MEGSI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in cooperation with the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office, as part of those agencies’ participation in Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nation-wide initiative intended to combat gun and drug crimes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.