Quincy, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 120 months in Prison for Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Quincy, Illinois, man, Derrick Phillips, 42, was sentenced on April 10, 2023, to 120 months in prison, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a substance containing heroin.

At the sentencing hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Colleen R. Lawless, the government proffered evidence that in October 2017 Phillips was detained after getting off an Amtrak train that had just arrived in Quincy from the Chicago area. Law enforcement then discovered almost two hundred grams of heroin and $730.00 in cash on his person.

Phillips was arrested in March 2019 and pleaded guilty in December 2022. He has been detained by the United States Marshals Service since his arrest.

Because Phillips had a previous federal conviction for distributing controlled substances, the statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a substance containing heroin were not less than 10 years and up to life in prison, not more than an $8,000,000 fine, and not less than eight years of supervised release.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office; West Central Illinois Task Force; and Quincy Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Phillips is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.