Grand jury indicts several on drug charges
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Eleven people were arrested yesterday after the Saline County grand jury handed up numerous indictments.
Most of the indictments involved drug charges, although Richard Turner II was indicted on a charge of murder in connection with the death of 4-year-old Jessika James last June. He was previously charged with murder through a bill of information filed April 7. The grand jury indictment charges the same crime, but does away with the need for a preliminary hearing which was set for today.
All but three of the people indicted have been brought into custody or served with their warrants; those indictments remain sealed by the court because the defendants are still at large, State's Attorney Mike Henshaw said.
Those arrested include:
--Winifred Lynn Moss, 51, 318 Oak St., Galatia, was arrested 2:50 p.m. April 26 by the Saline County Detention Center on charges of four counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $110,000 cash bond.
--Dennis James Powell, 34, 927 W. Barnett St., Harrisburg, 4 p.m. April 26 by Saline County Detention Center on charges of two counts of possession of controlled substance while in residential property owned by a public housing agency. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $50,000 cash bond.
--Bobby Gene Stone, 51, 104 Oak St., Carrier Mills, 3:10 p.m. April 26 by Eldorado Police on charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance while in residential property owned by a public housing agency. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $15,000 cash bond.
--Chad Douglas Sanders, 30, 2080 Barnett Road, Harrisburg, was arrested 2:50 p.m. April 26 by State Police on charges of two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $80,000 cash bond.
--Gary Eugene Schwartz, 42, 2 N. Skaggs St. Apt. 609, Harrisburg, 4:30 p.m. April 26 by Harrisburg police on charges of unlawful delivery of controlled substance while in property owned by a public housing agency. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $20,000 cash bond. Schwartz is a former mayor of Galatia.
--Tyler Laval Sanders, 19, 2082 Barnett St., Harrisburg, 5:05 p.m. April 26 by Harrisburg police on charges of unlawful delivery of controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church and two counts of unlawful delivery of controlled substance. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $45,000 cash bond.
--David Buenda Acuna, 40, 2017 Locust St., Eldorado, 6:10 p.m. April 26 by sheriff's deputies on charges of three counts of possession of controlled substance and two counts of possession of cannabis. He remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $52,500 cash bond.
--Marcella Jean Cusic, 31, 506 E. Granger St., Harrisburg, 8:30 p.m. April 26 by sheriff's deputies on charges of four counts of delivery of controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a public housing agency and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance while in property owned by a public housing agency. She remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $20,000 cash bond.
--Jennifer R. Grady was arrested in Williamson County on three chares of delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church and two charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance while in residential property owned by a public housing agency.
--Eddie D. Fletcher III was arrested in Williamson County on two charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church and one charge of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance while in residential property owned by a public housing agency.
Monday afternoon, officers with the State Police, Sheriff's Department and Harrisburg and Eldorado police departments deployed from the Saline County Fairgrounds to serve warrants. A mobile command center was set up next to the 4-H barns to coordinate the operation. The arrests took place without any serious incidents, Henshaw said.
The drug-related indictments resulted from ongoing investigations by the Illinois State Police Drug Task Force, Mike Henshaw said.
"We're going to continue to work closely with the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force to prosecute these people who are dealing in controlled substances," Henshaw said.
This is the second round of drug arrests in less than a year resulting from grand jury indictments.
"And it won't be the last," Henshaw said.
Assistant State's Attorney Jason Olson presented the testimony in the drug cases to the grand jury. Henshaw presented the murder investigation, he said.