Springfield, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 108 Months in Prison for Drug Trafficking

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Springfield, Illinois, man, Robert E. Collins, 35, of the 1900 block of South Lawrence Avenue, was sentenced on May 3, 2022, to 108 months’ imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of mixtures or substances containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Collins was found in possession of approximately 504 ecstasy pills containing methamphetamine during a traffic stop in Decatur, Illinois, on August 3, 2017, and also had around $8,500 on his person.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough found that a sentencing enhancement for obstructing justice applied in relation to Collins’s flight from a later traffic stop in Sangamon County, Illinois, during which the United States Marshals Service attempted to take Collins into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant. Collins sped away from the traffic stop in a vehicle, dragging two United States Marshals with him. One of the Marshals remained on the running board for several hundred yards before Collins slowed down, allowing the Marshal to jump off safely.

Collins was indicted in March of 2018 and pleaded guilty in November of 2021.

The statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of mixtures containing methamphetamine are not less than five years and not more than 40 years in prison, not more than a $5 million fine, and at least four years of supervised release.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Marshals Service, the Springfield Police Department, and the Decatur Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir represented the government in the prosecution.