Drug Trade in Hebron

From time to time allegations of drug trade and wanted persons in Hebron will surface. Hebron? Where's Hebron?

Hebron is a small town in northern McHenry County, Illinois. It's due north of Woodstock and the last town on Route 47 before you hit Wisconsin.

For a little history of goings-on in Hebron, check out the current postings on http://www.dirtykeithvsdirtyharry.blogspot.com/

And keep an eye on it all week. I believe you can expect stories to be updated and changed during the week, and a big story is promised for noon on Thursday, December 24.



Added 12/22/09 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Heroin in McHenry County

The Daily Herald (http://www.dailyherald.com/) has an important article today about efforts of a mother whose 19-year-old son died in 2007 from heroin use. She has had a large billboard installed on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling that features her efforts to identify and halt heroin use.

What is the incidence of heroin use in McHenry County?
By teens?
By adults?

Do you know someone who uses heroin? Where does s/he get it?

Do you suspect that someone you know is using heroin? What are you doing about it? Just waiting for the funeral?

Go to http://www.nickbeinlich.com/ and click through the pictures. As you do so, think about your own kids and the kids you know. This week-end, today, now, you could make a difference in a kid's life by asking him or her about heroin use, either by him or by someone he knows.

Heroin use up - why???

This morning's Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com/) reports that heroin use is up in the Northwest 'burbs. How can people be so stupid? That's the question!

A community forum is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7:00PM on Wednesday, October 7, in the theater at the Buffalo Grove High School, 1100 W. Dundee Road. The forum is free and open to the public.

A similar event at the Woodstock High School was so lightly attended as to be almost embarrassing. Where were the parents???

Is the DARE program working? It's targeted at the elementary schools. I guess the idea is to stop drug use there and then, eventually, you've wiped it out in the community. Right? Is that how it works? Does it work?

Do kids need support in saying NO to those who entice them and attempt to hook them? Of course, the older kids and the pushers don't tell their customers that they are trying to "hook" them. They must learn not to accept even free illegal drugs. As soon as they are hooked, then they'll do anything to get more.

What is going on in Woodstock District 200 schools right now to squash drug use? You can probably ask about any student who's doing drugs, and he or she will be able to name some kids. Okay, parents and school staff need to know who they are!

We, the schools, the police and the People can make life so uncomfortable for the pushers - and for the users, if they don't quit - that they will find Woodstock to be a very unpleasant place to live. If Woodstock is known as a very unfriendly place (for drug pushers), that's okay with me.

And the same for McHenry County! If the drug pushers get squeezed out of Chicago, they are not welcome here.

Friends who use

You have to read this morning's article on Page 1 of the Northwest Herald about the drug dealer who was sentenced to 18 years in the slammer for selling heroin that killed a McHenry woman last March 3.

But don't waste time on the felon's story. Count the number of times that "friend" was used in the article.

Laura Johnson died after a friend drove her and two others to Chicago and bought heroin from the guy who got convicted. The driver, according to the Northwest Herald, used Johnson's money for the drug buy.

Some "friend", eh? And then they come to the Woodstock "area" to party (OK, so where?), and "a friend" found Johnson "cold and blue" (does that mean dead?) at 4:00AM.

I'll tell you - everyone of those "friends" mentioned in the article needed to be named. Was it the same "friend" who drove her to Chicago and spent her money on heroin who found her at 4:00AM?

The only "friend" identified in the article was Amanda Benton. From the construction of the article I really couldn't determine whether Amanda was a friend who wasn't involved in the drug purchase or party or whether she was one of the "friends" along for the ride.

Is the dealer's attorney right that the "friends" weren't tracked down and prosecuted? Does he mean that the "friend" who drove the car to Chicago, knew where to buy drugs (oh, maybe she or he just follow the billboards or the exit signs (Exit Here for Herion) on the Dan Ryan; right?), did the deal with Johnson's money, and shot her up (if that's what you do with heroin) wasn't prosecuted? Did that "friend" get a deal out of the State's Attorney's office?

If so, what are we running here in McHenry County? Nobody in a drug deal ought to get a "deal." OK, so cut three months off a ten-year sentence for "cooperation." It wasn't the first time, if the driver knew where to go.

Can we afford the luxury of prison time for all? Slap on the electronic anklet. Let 'em go to work and straight home. House arrest. No cable, no TV, no satellite, no alcohol, no drugs. Read, eat, sleep and clean. Or make a deal with Sheriff Arpaio in Phoenix and ship them there. He doesn't run a luxury hotel like the McHenry County Jail. I think he feeds prisoners on $2-3/day, not like the higher, local budget.

I commend Judge Prather for the stiff prison sentence for the dealer. But she ought to throw her gavel at the State's Attorney's office and demand to see the rest of the herd in front of her bench very soon! Of course, that isn't how it happens. We, the People, had better be throwing our gavels at the SAO and telling them to do their part to stop these drug dealings and deaths by harsh punishment for all involved.

Drugs Found in Jail Cell

"'It's not uncommon for this to happen,' (said) Lt. Andrew Zinke". Maybe another way of saying this is, "It's common for this to happen."

According to today's Northwest Herald article on Page 8, a female prisoner's cell was searched, and a K-9 "unit" alerted on the drugs. What was found in the cell? 11.5 grams of heroin and 13.2 grams of methadone.

The prisoner was apparently jailed on Wednesday on a charge of driving on a suspended license. The arresting officer and agency were not identified. The article does not state whether she was stopped while driving, but it might be a fair guess to assume so. Or else she was arrested on a warrant for doing so, but the article does not say that.

So the question is, why weren't the drugs found then? Weren't her personal effects (purse, clothing pockets, etc.) searched then? Was she allowed out-of-sight (for example, into a bathroom) with her purse or pocket contents, so that she could allegedly secret them in a body cavity and keep them there throughout the booking procedures?

Why would a K-9 unit be in the jail cell area, and why on the day after she was jailed? Are K-9 units used there for training? Was it a random search? Are K-9 searches scheduled periodically or regularly?

The worrisome comment is that "it is not uncommon..." for drugs to be found in jail cells. Oh, really? Well, if I were Sheriff, it would be v-e-r-y uncommon, and deputies responsible for allowing it to happen would find themselves with special high-intensity training, so that they got the message.

If there is a problem with drugs getting into McHenry County Jail, then procedures are wrong or supervision is lax. Or both. What other contraband is found in this Jail? Any weapons? Ever?