PEORIA, Ill. –Harold Shane Koch, 42, of Pekin, Illinois, was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute ice methamphetamine.
Koch, who pleaded guilty on the same day he was sentenced, admitted that he conspired with others to buy and resell methamphetamine throughout the Pekin and Peoria areas for at least a six-month period from August 2019 until his arrest in February 2020. Evidence presented in court showed that Koch sold ice methamphetamine to a police informant on at least two occasions and was also found with ice methamphetamine packaged for resale at the time of his arrest.
At the joint change-of-plea and sentencing hearing, the government stated that the investigation of Koch’s criminal activity had revealed that Koch’s methamphetamine trafficking dated back to 2018 and involved over seven kilos of ice methamphetamine. The ice methamphetamine specifically seized from Koch during the investigation was determined to have at least 99% purity levels.
During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Joe Billy McDade noted that Koch had a stable upbringing and several successful stints in drug treatment in the past. Judge McDade emphasized his hope that Koch would turn his life around after this conviction.
“The high-purity methamphetamine we are seeing in the Central District of Illinois is cheap, highly potent, and readily available,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Douglas J. Quivey. “It’s a drug that can bring out the absolute worst in people, its addictive qualities make it difficult to quit, and it wreaks havoc in our communities. Our office will continue to work with law enforcement to steadily target the drug dealers who peddle this highly addictive substance to users.”
Koch has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Pekin Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Legge represented the government in the prosecution.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)’s National Methamphetamine Strategic Initiative, spearheaded locally out of the Pekin Police Department. The primary goal of this initiative is to address methamphetamine trafficking and its attendant consequences by using a coordinated, multi-agency approach targeting the highest levels of drug trafficking leadership. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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