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British Man Found Guilty in Heroin Overdose Death in Illinois
A 19-year-old high school student from O’Fallon, Illinois, died after taking a heroin overdose on February 23, 2011. The heroin was sold to the victim by Richard J. Klemis, a 41-year-old native and citizen of Great Britain.
On February 4, 2015, Klemis was found guilty of selling the heroin that killed Tyler P. McKinney, a 19-year-old O’Fallon High School student.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, stated, ‘This successful prosecution is yet another step in our anti-heroin initiative. Our anti-heroin effort is designed to slow down and reverse the epidemic of heroin overdose deaths among young people in the Southern District of Illinois.’
Klemis sold heroin to several dozen current and former O’Fallon Township High School students during 2010-11, while he was residing with his mother in O’Fallon. Klemis fled the United States when he learned that he was a suspect in McKinney’s death.
Klemis will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis on May 8, 2015. Klemis faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 20 years in federal prison, with a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Klemis was convicted following an 8-day jury trial before United States District Court Judge David R. Herndon. The investigation which resulted in Klemis’ arrest and conviction was conducted by the O’Fallon, Illinois, Police Department, the Millstadt, Illinois, Police Department, and by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The case was tried by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan S. Drucker. Klemis was also found guilty of conspiracy to distribute heroin, selling heroin to four young people under the age of 21, and employing a 16-year-old man to assist Klemis with his heroin distribution operation.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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