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Press Release
Press Release
CHICAGO — A south suburban man has been charged with federal drug offenses for allegedly conspiring to import a fentanyl analogue from China into the Chicago area.
In the fall of last year, SANCHEZ LACKLAND, 35, of Hazel Crest, imported methoxyacetyl fentanyl from China, according to an indictment returned Wednesday in federal court in Chicago. Lackland and others had the substances shipped through the U.S. mail to approximately 19 Chicago-area addresses, according to the indictment and a criminal complaint previously filed in the case. In December, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Lackland’s home and seized quantities of heroin, methoxyacetyl fentanyl and acryl fentanyl, as well as a loaded revolver and approximately $300,000 in cash, the complaint states.
The indictment charges Lackland with drug and firearm offenses. Lackland is a convicted felon who is not legally allowed to possess firearms.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; James M. Gibbons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Brian McKnight, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration; and Bill Hedrick, Acting Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Erskine.
The indictment also charges JERMOL MIXON, 35, of Orland Park, with drug and weapons offenses. On Dec. 12, 2017, law enforcement agents followed Lackland as he delivered a package to Mixon’s home, according to the complaint. A subsequent court-authorized search of Mixon’s home uncovered quantities of heroin, methoxyacetyl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl, $10,000 in cash and materials used to manufacture drugs, the complaint states.
During the search of Mixon’s home, agents encountered him in an upstairs room within arm’s reach of a loaded handgun, the complaint states. Mixon is a convicted felon who cannot legally possess firearms.
Arraignments for both defendants are set for March 14, 2018, at 11:00 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.