Granite City Woman Charged In Cocaine Conspiracy

Shelly A. Stodnick, 41, of Granite City, Illinois, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in East St. Louis, on June 18, 2013, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. The Grand Jury charged Stodnick with Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with the Intent to Distribute Cocaine. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of certain real property and “all property constituting or derived from any proceeds…obtained directly or indirectly” from the offense. The indictment was originally suppressed, but has since been unsealed. Upon conviction, the charged offense carries a possible penalty of ten (10) years to life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, at least five (5) years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Stodnick made her first appearance and was arraigned on July 8, 2013. Trial is currently scheduled for September 9, 2013, in United States District Court in East St. Louis.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge and is entitled to a fair trial at which the Government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Evidence in support of the indictment in this case was obtained in an investigation which was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF initiative is designed to bring federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and resources together to identify, target and dismantle large national and international drug trafficking organizations. Participating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI), U.S. Marshal Service, the Granite City Police Department, the Fairview Heights Police Department, the Collinsville Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County (Missouri) Police Department, the St. Charles County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Department, and the Nebraska State Patrol. This case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Randy G. Massey for prosecution.