East St. Louis Woman Sentenced for Heroin Offenses

Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Ciera McNeal, 29, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute heroin.

McNeal was charged in a superseding indictment on December 16, 2015, along with two co-defendants: Alfred Vernon Reeves, Jr., 41 of East St. Louis, Ill. and Lacy Snead, 52, of Chicago, Ill. Records filed in court established that the three travelled from Chicago on June 18, 2015, with approximately 150 grams of heroin that was intended to be distributed in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Reeves was charged with distributing heroin on March 5, 2013, and for participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin over a three-year period of time. Reeves pled guilty on May 6, 2016. Reeves faces up to 20 years in prison for distributing heroin, but he faces a minimum sentence of 10 years to life for conspiracy when he is sentenced on October 14, 2016.

Snead was charged with participating in the same heroin deal that occurred on March 5, 2013, and he was further charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin. Snead pled guilty to distribution of heroin and conspiracy to distribute heroin, on September 19, 2016, and he faces a minimum of 5 to 40 years in prison. It is expected that Snead will be sentenced in March of 2017.

The investigation was conducted by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.