Five people have been indicted in federal court in Peoria for conspiracy to distribute heroin. The indictment alleges the defendants distributed more than 1,000 grams of heroin since May 2010, and further resulted in death and serious bodily injury from the use of the narcotic.
Monta Anderson, 35, Diondre Harris, 23 and Walter Nealy IV, 36, made their first appearance in court yesterday when the indictments were unsealed. Anderson was already in custody. Harris and Nealy both reside in Peoria and were arrested June 1. Leland Jones, 34 and Latanya Anderson, 37 both of Chicago, remain at-large.
The indictments were the result of a multiple agency law enforcement effort. The indictments come after police and emergency room doctors have issued warnings to heroin users over the last couple of years along with a spike in heroin overdoses and deaths.
The penalty for conspiracy to distribute more than 1,000 grams of heroin ranges from 10 years to life in prison depending the defendant's number of previous felony drug convictions. The penalty is a mandatory 20 years to life if its connected to a death or serious injury.