Fairview Heights Man Sentenced For Heroin Overdose Death

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today that Joseph L. Robinson, 30, of Fairview Heights, IL, was sentenced in United States District Court in East St. Louis on Monday, September 30, 2013, to 20 years (240 months) in federal prison.

On May 29, 2013, Robinson pled guilty to a federal indictment which charged him with Distribution of Heroin Resulting in Death. At his change of plea hearing in May, Robinson admitted that he had sold “two buttons of heroin” (2/10 of a gram) to Donnie T. Baumann for $30 on the night Baumann died. Baumann, 22, was found dead at his Fairview Heights residence on December 21, 2010.

Several members of Baumann’s family addressed the Court at Robinson’s sentence hearing. They described Baumann as a loving son and brother.

Robinson has been confined since his arrest on November 10, 2011.

United States Attorney Stephen Wigginton commented that, “This severe federal prison sentence should put drug dealers on notice that they peddle heroin at their own risk, and those risks are considerable. My office will continue its initiative to stop the heroin overdose epidemic among our young citizens. The prosecution and sentencing of Robinson is part of our ongoing anti-heroin initiative.”

The investigation which resulted in the successful prosecution of Robinson was conducted by the Fairview Heights Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison.