JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Fulton, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for distributing heroin, which resulted in the death of 28-year-old Summer Bond, also of Fulton.

            Trevonn Lionel French, 36, of Fulton, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City. Today’s indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed against French on Jan. 13, 2011; the affidavit filed in support of that complaint remains under seal. French remains in federal custody without bond.

            Today’s indictment alleges that French distributed heroin to Bond on Jan. 9, 2011, and that Bond died as a result of the use of that heroin. The indictment also charges French with two additional counts of distributing heroin in Callaway County, Mo., on two other occasions during January 2011.

            Under federal statutes, a conviction for distribution of heroin resulting in death carries a penalty of a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole.

            Phillips cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Berry. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Fulton, Mo., Police Department, the Callaway County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Boone County, Mo., Medical Examiner’s Office.

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