Chicago man sentenced to jail term for local heroin sale June 23, 2010 Two more Illinois men currently serving time in the local lock-up have admitted to playing a part in the distribution of heroin.
Today, Jevoni “Geezy” Watkins, 23, was sentenced in Langlade County Circuit Court to an additional two months in jail after pleading no contest to a felony count involving the manufacture or delivery of the dangerous substance.
A day prior, co-defendant Kevin McMullen, 23, pleaded guilty to the same charge and is awaiting a Sept. 3 sentencing hearing where he technically could be sent to prison for the next 12 1/2 years.
A third Chicago resident, Steven “Snoop” Humphrey, 22, has also pleaded no contest to heroin sale charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19.
The three men and two female co-defendants, one from Antigo and the other from Wausau, were arrested last November as the result of an investigation by the Antigo Police Department.
Authorities believe the women provided the local link with at least one of them allowing the men to stay at her Antigo apartment while drug sales were made. That woman, 22-year old Amber Rudolph, admitted to playing a part in the crime and is currently serving a term of probation. She was sentenced to a 51 day stay in jail on the condition that she provide truthful testimony against her co-defendants.
The Wausau woman, 23-year old Laura Minard, is scheduled to take her case to trial in September.
Watkins was scheduled to plead his case before Judge Fred Kawalski today but the court trial was canceled after defense counsel Brent DeBord of Oconto advised that his client wanted to enter a plea.
Watkins has already served 126 days in jail while the case was pending. With the additional term of incarceration, he will have served approximately six months in jail. He will additionally be under the supervision of the Department of Probation and Parole for the next two years.
In reaching the agreement, District Attorney Ralph Uttke said he believed a term of probation — and not prison — was appropriate due to Watkins’ lack of an extensive criminal record and his actual role in the case.
Kawalski concurred but advised that it was important that Watkins understand the seriousness of the offense and the need for punishment.
“I want to make sure that you won’t be tempted to join this activity again,” Kawalski said.
During earlier court hearings, a man under the disguise of “Confidential Informant 270,” testified that he had made past drug purchases, as many as 20 times, from two of the suspects. He explained that he knew them by their nicknames and said that they often worked together with sales made from one, or the other, at different times.
According to court records, the heroin was brought from Chicago to Antigo to sell at a profit. The sellers stayed at local homes, including Rudolph’s Center Street apartment. Transactions were lined up via either cell phone, text messaging or “chirping,” which involves using the two-way radio system on some cellular phones.
With the assistance of Chicago police, Watkins and Humphrey were identified as the main suspects and confirmed by the informant through a photo line-up.
The informant testified as to the November sales, explaining that with $300 provided to him by police, he purchased heroin from “Snoop” (Humphrey). Rudolph, her two children, the man he knew as “Geezy” (Watkins) and another male named Kevin were also in the apartment. According to police, Kevin was Kevin McMullen, 23, also of Chicago, who is also facing heroin charges.
Two days later, the informant returned to the Center Street location. He testified that he had made a deal with “Snoop” to purchase more drugs but he was met at the door by McMullen who handed over a folded piece of tissue paper containing slightly less than two grams of heroin.
During the cross examination, the informant testified that although “Geezy” (Watkins) was in the apartment at the time of the November transactions, he wasn’t involved in the actual sale. He added, however, that he had talked to him “hundreds of times” in the past.
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