A second Chicago-area man indicted for illegally importing a fentanyl derivative from China

CHICAGO — A south suburban Chicago man was charged Thursday with federal drug offenses for allegedly conspiring to import fentanyl derivative from China into the Chicago area.

This indictment was announced by the following agency heads: U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr., Northern District of Illinois; Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago; Special Agent in Charge Brian McKnight, Drug Enforcement Administration’s Chicago Field Division; and Acting Inspector-in-Charge Bill Hedrick, U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago.

Last fall, Sanchez Lackland, 35, of Hazel Crest, Illinois, imported methoxyacetyl fentanyl from China, according to an indictment returned Wednesday in federal court in Chicago. 

Lackland and others had the substances shipped through the U.S. mail to 19 Chicago-area addresses, according to the indictment and a criminal complaint previously filed in the case.

In December, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Lackland’s home and seized quantities of heroin, methoxyacetyl fentanyl and acryl fentanyl, as well as a loaded revolver and about $300,000 in cash, the complaint states.

The indictment charges Lackland with drug and firearm offenses. Lackland is a convicted felon who is not legally allowed to possess firearms.

The indictment also charges Jermol Mixon, 35, of Orland Park, Illinois, with drug and weapons offenses.

On Dec. 12, 2017, law enforcement agents followed Lackland as he delivered a package to Mixon’s home, according to the complaint.

A subsequent court-authorized search of Mixon’s home uncovered quantities of heroin, methoxyacetyl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl, $10,000 in cash and materials used to manufacture drugs, the complaint states.

During the search of Mixon’s home, agents encountered him in an upstairs room within arm’s reach of a loaded handgun, the complaint states. Mixon is a convicted felon who cannot legally possess firearms.

Arraignments for both defendants are set for March 14, 2018, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Erskine, Northern District of Illinois.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.