BELLEVILLE DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO TWENTY YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on September 24, 2009, KEVYN TAYLOR, a/k/a “Bone” age 36, of Belleville, Illinois, was sentenced in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. TAYLOR was sentenced to a term of 240 months in prison, ordered to pay a $250 fine, and placed on supervised release for a period of 5 years after his release from prison.

TAYLOR was convicted after a jury trial on June 17, 2009, of Conspiracy to Distribute over 50 Grams of Crack Cocaine; Distribution of over 50 Grams of Crack Cocaine; Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense; and being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The offenses occurred from approximately September 2005 to July 2006 in and around East St. Louis, Illinois. TAYLOR’S co-conspirator, Byron Blake, was previously sentenced to 35 years in prison on July 16, 2007.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Illinois State Police under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald S. Boyce.