COCAINE INVESTIGATION OVER

Nine Federal Indictments; Other Possible Cases In State Hands

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday their probe of a "significant"
cocaine ring is now complete and that it took about six years of
on-and-off investigation to dismantle the organization believed to
have delivered millions of dollars' worth of the drug to
Springfield-area users.

The federal investigation netted nine indictments and a great deal of
public interest.

Six defendants have already pleaded guilty, including Jerrad A.
Pruitt of the 4000 block of Hazelcrest Road on Wednesday. At least
six other names have been forwarded to a court- appointed state
appellate prosecutor for possible prosecution; no decision yet has
been made as to whether charges will be filed against them.

"While the active investigation into this conspiracy is now complete
because the conspiratorial network has been dismantled, the (law
enforcement) offices represented here today will remain vigilant in
investigating and prosecuting anyone who would supply cocaine or
other narcotics in this community," said U.S. Attorney Rodger Heaton.

"Simply put, no matter who you are, if you choose to supply illegal
drugs to others, we will work to put you in federal prison," he
added. "Makes no difference who you are, what position you hold. What
sort of status or influence you have. If you engage in this kind of
behavior, it will be our intent to investigate and to prosecute effectively."

With Pruitt's plea Wednesday morning effectively ending the
investigation, Heaton made his announcement a few hours later at a
news conference at the U.S. attorney's office while flanked by
Springfield Police Chief Don Kliment and representatives from the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Illinois State Police.

In addition to Pruitt, eight others have been charged since October
2005 in related cases. The other five who have pleaded guilty are:
Adam Martin, 28, of the 2200 block of Lindbergh Drive; Dondi D.
McIntosh, 33, of the 2100 block of Peoria Road; William W. Thomas,
28, of the 1200 block of West Edwards Street; Michael D. Mohan, 28,
of the 1200 block of Leland Street; and Gerald M. Vondebur 41, of the
2100 block of Fairway Drive.

The three still scheduled for trial are: the alleged ringleader,
Danny J. Sidener Jr., 27, of the 900 block of Waco Street in
Taylorville; Earl V. Sidener, 27, of the 1100 block of North Virginia
Avenue; and Peter Sidener, 39, of the 300 block of Cranmer Drive.

The investigation has been the subject of much speculation in
Springfield as to who has been involved and who would get arrested.

"There's been a fair amount of rumor generated by this
investigation," Heaton said. "A lot of these rumors were not true. I
think the lesson in that for all of us is that people should be
patient and let law enforcement do their job professionally and as
well as they can, and in the end, hopefully you will continue to see
results like you had here."

One of those rumors became known as "the list." Talk on local radio
stations and in other forums indicated there was a list circulating
of at least 120 people, including many public officials, who were
somehow involved.

Heaton said it's not something his office produced, adding, "I'm not
aware of it if it did" exist.

In fact, the six names confirmed by court documents to have been
forwarded to the Illinois appellate prosecutor's office for possible
prosecution are: Sangamon County Clerk Joe Aiello, former assistant
state's attorneys John "Jake" Kelley and Dan Mills, former public
defender John A. Maurer, former federal probation officer Kevin Kelly
and former bank loan officer Blair Fein.

None has been charged.

The Sangamon County state's attorney's office asked for a special
prosecutor July 11 after the U.S. attorney's office delivered reports
on the investigation to the county.

Charles Zalar, the attorney with the appellate prosecutor's office
who was assigned to decide whether charges will be filed, said
Wednesday no decision has been made.

Heaton said it's no longer in his hands.

"Information provided to us in the federal investigation has been
conveyed to the state, and it could be considered and used within
their system. I don't know all of the rules they have in their
system," Heaton said. "There is no prohibition on them using
information we have provided."

The investigation came to light after someone overheard on a police
scanner Oct. 28 that police were mentioning Mohan's address. Agents
on that day were watching Danny Sidener as he drove up to Mohan's
Leland Avenue home, allegedly to make a cocaine delivery.

Told that authorities were watching him, Sidener fled, eventually
crashing his car into a state trooper's, police said.

Court documents filed this month indicate the feds would like to
confiscate about $52,500 in alleged drug money from one bank account
of Danny Sidener's and almost $9,000 from another. The forfeiture
papers also contend that Springfield police were first notified in
mid-1999 that Sidener was delivering large amounts of marijuana and
cocaine in the Springfield area.

Between 2000 and 2004, agents learned Sidener received large amounts
of cocaine - five to 10 kilograms each time - from a supplier in
Chicago and would then redistribute it to other dealers in the
Springfield area, according to the documents.

"Agents learned that Sidener generated large sums of money from his
cocaine and marijuana distribution activities and that he had large
sums of cash available to him which he used to promote his drug
distribution activities, to purchase real properties in Springfield
and Taylorville, to purchase vehicles and to generally support
himself and his girlfriend," the documents say.

They also indicate that on Oct. 28, the day Sidener was taken into
custody, he told police that he had retrieved $42,000 from a storage
unit and purchased two kilos of cocaine from his source.

Tony Grootens, resident agent in charge for the DEA, said Wednesday
there are 1,000 grams of cocaine in a kilo and that each gram is
worth about $100 on the street.

Sidener also allegedly told authorities that it was in 1999 or 2000
that he began to buy cocaine in Chicago, and that in 2003, he stepped
up his purchasing to two or three times a month and bought another 60
pounds of marijuana every other month from a Chicago source.

He allegedly said he had not had a job for several years but that he
purchased houses, fixed them up and resold them. He also said he owns
rental property.

Then, in 2004 and 2005, according to the documents, Sidener said his
cocaine dealing stepped up to the point where he was purchasing two
or three kilos in Chicago each month.

One of Sidener's alleged co-conspirators told authorities he'd known
Sidener nearly all his life and that Sidener owned two homes in
Taylorville and that his last legitimate job was when he was in high
school and worked at Domino's Pizza.

Danny Sidener's next court date is a pretrial hearing set for Oct. 2.