Springfield, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 100 Months for Distributing Heroin

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Springfield, Illinois, man, Kenneth Neal, 32, of the 1800 block of Stanhope Road, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough to 100 months in prison, to be followed by six years of supervised release, for distributing 110 grams of heroin between December 2019 and February 2020.

Neal has been detained since his arrest and is presently serving a previously imposed state sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The statutory penalties for distribution of heroin after having previously been convicted of a qualifying prior offense are: not more than 30 years in prison, not more than a $2,000,000 fine, and not less than six years of supervised release.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Springfield Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Neal 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.