TASK FORCE FIGHTS SPREAD OF HEROIN AMONG YOUTHS

Port Washington - Hearing that Ozaukee County youths were in rehab fighting
heroin addiction and that others were dealing and using the drug, officials
started looking for ways to slow down the spread.

Sheriff's Lt. Dean Roberts said the arrest this month of two Mequon men was
the result of an effort by the Ozaukee County Anti-Drug Task Force to deal
with the upswing of heroin use.

"We knew that kids were buying enough to use, and we wanted to shut that
down," Roberts said. "We've been trying to make some inroads, and we have
been successful."

Ilya Veleonitsky, 20, and Derek B. Whitton, 21, both of Mequon, were
arrested and charged this month after the Ozaukee County drug unit alleged
it had conducted a series of buys.

Veleonitsky is charged with three counts of being a party to the crime of
delivery of heroin and could face up to 68 years in prison if convicted.

Whitton is charged with four counts of a delivery, one count each of
possession of heroin with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana and
possession of drug paraphernalia. He could face up to 113 years if convicted.

On four occasions, an undercover officer with the Ozaukee County unit
purchased heroin from at least one of the two men, according to the
criminal complaint. The transactions took place at local restaurants and in
once case at Whitton's residence, the complaint says.

The drug unit bought about 10 grams of heroin from the men, Roberts said.

"That is not an insignificant amount," he said. "It is an amount that,
clearly, in our opinion, says they're selling."

The influx of heroin had immediate and deadly results.

In June, Bill Counard, 23, was found dead of a heroin overdose in a house
in Newburg.

A Cedarburg teen, Christopher Koleski, 15, died at a house in Milwaukee in
April. Among drugs found in his system was heroin.

That matches the anecdotal information that was reaching the Ozaukee drug unit.

"We heard about kids in rehab; we heard about kids in the southern part of
the county using," Roberts said. "We identified a drug use problem, and
we're striving to deal with it."

Heroin is a highly addictive drug, according to the National Institute on
Drug Abuse. The drug creates pleasurable sensations that can last up to
four hours. The craving for the drug lasts much longer.

And it is getting cheaper, authorities said. A gram sells for between $125
and $150.

And at $10 for a single dose, it's easy for kids to afford.

Veleonitsky and Whitton will appear today in Ozaukee County Circuit Court.