News

U.S. District Judge Jonathan E. Hawley sentenced 30-year-old Kristain Harris, of Memphis, Tennessee, to 120 months imprisonment on each of three counts of distribution of 50 or more grams of methamphetamine (“ice”) and one count of distribution of 5 grams or more of methamphetamine (“ice”), all to be served concurrently. She must also serve five years of supervised release.

An Onarga, Illinois, man, James R. Nelson, 40, was sentenced on February 23, 2026, to five years in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, for possession of an unregistered destructive device, or a bomb in April 2025. 

Urbana, Ill. – A Guatemalan national, Roberto Nicolas-Simon, 24, has been sentenced to a concurrent 14 months of imprisonment for failing to update registration as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and being a removed alien illegally present in United States.

Springfield, Ill - Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore announced today that the Central District of Illinois collected $5,236,030.66 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2025.

PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria, Illinois man, Christopher William Crawford, 32, of the 1400 block of West Covington Court, was sentenced on January 7, 2026, to 120 months imprisonment on each of two counts of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine (actual).

PEORIA, Ill. – A Pekin, Illinois man, Joshua Dunn, 33, formerly of South Second Street, was sentenced on January 6, 2026, to 144 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and 60 months for a felon in possession of a firearm charge.

205 Child Victims Located and 293 Child Sex Abuse Offenders Arrested in Nationwide Crackdown, Including in the Central District of Illinois

PEORIA, Ill. – A grand jury today returned an indictment charging Stephen H. Keith, 35, of East Peoria, Illinois, for allegedly perpetrating a wire fraud and identity theft scheme starting as early as August 2020 and continuing to August 2024. 

A federal jury returned eight guilty verdicts on November 19, 2025, against Marcus “Slim” McKinney, 49, of Danville, Illinois, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, possession of fifty grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute, maintaining drug-involved premises, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. The jury further found that McKinney distributed drugs that caused serious bodily injury to one woman and the death of another woman, Maggie Avelar. 

An El Paso, Illinois, man, Derek Lopez, 27, has been charged in federal court with making threats against President Donald J. Trump. 

A Guatemalan national, Roberto Nicolas-Simon, 24, pleaded guilty on September 24, 2025, to being illegally present in the United States after a prior removal and failing to update his registration as a convicted sex offender. 

A Peoria, Illinois, man, Matthew T. Miller, 40, was sentenced on September 24, 2025, to 200 months imprisonment, to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release, for possessing with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.