Greenview Man Sentenced to Almost 27 Years in Prison for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possessing a Firearm with Drug Trafficking

PEORIA, Ill. – A Greenview, Illinois man, Jonathan Puddy, 38, of the 400 block of West Douglas Street, was sentenced on July 27, 2022, to 262 months imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 60 months, to be served consecutively to the first charge, for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The total prison sentence of 322 months is to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Joe B. McDade, the government presented evidence that on October 24, 2020 around 1:00 am, Peoria County Sheriff’s deputies stopped a car Puddy was driving. Puddy got out of the car and ran from officers. He jumped a fence and struggled with officers attempting to arrest him. After the officers handcuffed Puddy, they searched him and found a loaded Colt .25 caliber handgun and $1,200 in his pants pockets. In his bag, the deputies found about 274 grams of methamphetamine, about 15 grams of heroin, and about 28 grams of powder cocaine. Puddy admitted to trafficking pounds of ice methamphetamine over the previous month.

Puddy was indicted in November 2020 and has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arraignment in April 2021. Puddy entered a plea of guilty in December 2021.

The statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine are a minimum of 10 years, with a mandatory minimum of 15 years with one qualifying conviction, a maximum $20 million fine, and not less than 5 years supervised release. The penalties for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking are not less than 5 years imprisonment, consecutive to the first charge, a maximum $250,000 fine and not more than 5 years supervised release.

The Peoria County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Pekin Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Hollingshead-Cook represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Puddy was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. The Department’s renewed commitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods establishes four fundamental principles to guide efforts to reduce violent crime: 1) build trust and legitimacy within communities; 2) invest in community-based prevention and intervention programs; 3) target enforcement and priorities to focus resources on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most significant drivers of gun violence and other violent crime; and, 4) measure results with the goal to reduce the level of violence in our communities and not to increase the number of arrests and prosecutions as if they were ends in themselves.