HARDIN CO.—The major undercover operation in Hardin County that was said to have actually been hatched back in April culminated on Thursday, July 1…and caused quite a lot of buzz, and not a little turmoil, among fans of pharmaceuticals in one of southern Illinois’ smallest counties.
Rumors spread of upwards of 40 individuals being busted in the operation, largely conducted by Illinois State Police out of District 22 in Ullin, which, said Hardin County Sheriff Jerry T. Fricker, “took him by surprise,” but, he said, “I’ve always told those guys, if you have something going on, you just let me know when it kicks off and I’ll stay out of your way, and make sure you have a place to put em.”
Fricker’s “place,” the Hardin County Jail, was full a little more than a week after the big bust, which listed only 18 alleged with moving pills and other illicit substances through the hills and backroads of Hardin, and rounded up even fewer than that. On July 9, there were nine people sitting in the old jail; a handful of others had been sent on to Massac County, one had a recognizance bond due to a seizure disorder, and at least one had had her charges dismissed wholesale.
The suspects and their charges are as follows
Amanda G. Suits,charged with Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on April 14 she delivered to a confidential source 10 tablets of Hydrocodone within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
Cash bond in the case was set at $5,000.
Melissa K. Smith, charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on December 11, 2014 she delivered 10 tablets of Adderall to a confidential source, then on December 24, 2014 she delivered to a confidential source five tablets of Adderall and then on January 9, 2015 she again delivered to a confidential source 10 tablets of Adderall all within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
Cash bond in the case was set at $5,000.
Chrystal Hoyle, charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on April 30, 2014 she delivered 10 tablets of Hydrocodone to a confidential source within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
On May 14, 2014 she is accused of delivering 16 tablets of Clonazepam to a confidential source and then on June 16, 2014 she delivered another 20 tablets of Clonazepam to the confidential source
Cash bond in the case was set at $5,000.
Skyler P. Williams, charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities allege that on October 28, 2014 he delivered to a police informant less than 15 grams of cocaine while located in residential property owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency.
The second count alleges that he delivered 12 tablets of Tramadol to a confidential source November 13, 2014 while located in residential property owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency.
And the third charge claimed that on November 24, Williams delivered 15 more grams of cocaine to a confidential source while located in residential property owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency.
Cash bond in that case was also set at $5,000.
Mark A. Hartman faces three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on November 4, 2014 he delivered 15-200 tablets of Diazepam to a confidential source as well as 10 tablets of Alprazolam within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
The third count alleges that on November 24 he delivered to a police informant 15-20 tablets of Diazepam.
Cash bond in that case was set at $5,000.
Charles V. (Chase) Lampert (son of Rosiclare police officer Charlie Lampert), charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance.
Information in that case alleges that on December 24, 2014 he delivered to a confidential source 1 tablet of Hydrocodone and 10-15 tablets of Tramadol within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
The third count alleges that on December 28 he delivered 20 tablets of Tramadol to a police informant.
Cash bond in his case was set at $5,000.
Tiffany Conkle, charged with one count of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after police say on January 5, 2015 she delivered to a confidential informant six tablets of Hydrocodone within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
Conkle was released from police custody July after a $5,000 cash bond was posted on her behalf by Diana Kumorek, of Elizabethtown.
Laura M. Cunningham, charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance.
Authorities say that on August 25, 2014 she delivered to a confidential source five tablets of Vicodin within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
The second count alleges that on October 15, 2014 she delivered to a police informant five tablets of Diazepam within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
And the third count accuses Cunningham of delivering to a confidential informant 15-200 tablets of Tramadol on November 11, 2014.
Her cash bond was also set at $5,000.
Brenda S. Cowsert, charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on November 7, 2014 she delivered to a police informant five tablets of Alprazolam while located in residential property owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency.
In the second count authorities say Cowsert delivered, on November 17, 2014, 15-200 tablets of Alprazolam to an informant.
And the third count alleges that on December 20, 2014 she delivered to an informant three tablets of Hydrocodone while located in residential property owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency.
Cowsert’s cash bond was set at $5,000.
Rebecca A. Brindley, charged with a pair of counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance.
Information filed in that case alleges that on October 16, 2014 she delivered to a confidential source 15-200 tablets of Clonazepam,
The second count alleges that on October 28 she delivered to a police informant another 15-200 tablets of Clonazepam.
Her cash bond was set at $5,000 as well.
James D. Brindley, charged with a single count of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on October 22, 2014 he delivered to a confidential police informant eight tablets of Clonazepam within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
His cash bond was set at $5,000.
Leonard C. Curry, Jr., charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance.
Authorities say that on November 25, 2014 he knowingly delivered seven tablets of Hydrocodone to a confidential source.
The second count alleges that on December 9, 2014 he delivered to a police informant five tablets of Hydrocodone and the third accused Curry of delivering another five tablets of Hydrocodone to an informant on December 22, 2014.
All counts allegedly took place within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
Curry was released from police custody July 1 on a $5,000 recognizance bond.
Andrew S, Ashford is the only one out of the bunch who doesn’t appear to have been pimping pills.
Ashford is charged with three counts of Unlawful Delivery of Cannabis.
Formal charges in that case allege that he delivered to a police informant 10-30 grams of weed on or about April 30, 2014, another 10-30 grams of weed to the source on August 7 and a final delivery of 10-30 grams to the informant on August 15, 2014.
Ashford’s cash bond was set at $1,000.
Peggy Winters also faced three counts of Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance after authorities say on September 9, 2014 she delivered six tablets of Hydrocodone to a confidential informant.
The second count alleged that on September 26, 2014 she delivered eight tablets of Hydrocodone to the informant.
And the third count accused Winters of delivering 10 tablets of Tramadol to the source.
All three counts alleged the deliveries were made within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship.
Winters was released from police custody after she choked up $5,000 cash for bond.
However, that was refunded to her husband after Hardin County prosecutor Tara Wallace dismissed the charge against Winters due to “insufficient evidence,” a cop-out for Ms. Tara, no doubt, as this was, after all, a State Police operation and had been investigated thoroughly; the real story more likely was that Tara was out of her league with the very serious charges, as this was the first operation of its kind in her county since she took office in late 2012.
Wallace was observed standing nearby police agents on the day of the op, wearing a bulletproof vest for some inexplicable reason and looking very smug.
It appears that smugness has already worn thin, as it’s reported that more individuals will likely have their charges dismissed, since, as readers can see, Wallace can’t even list the defendants’ ages and addresses in charging documents, let alone is it likely that she can actually follow through on charges.
Several warrants remained unserved as of press time (July 12); the names of those individuals were unavailable as a result. Disclosure attempted to reach the Hardin County Circuit Clerk’s office at about 3 p.m. Friday, July 10, to learn whether those had been served, but the phones were never answered.