United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PEORIA, Ill. – U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid has sentenced Raymone Stephens, 31, of Bloomington, Illinois., to 16 years and 8 months in prison for his role in a crack cocaine trafficking conspiracy in 2018. Stephens, sentenced on Jan. 9, 2020, has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest in November 2018, and will be transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons to serve his sentence.

On Sept. 4, 2019, Stephens pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and to eight counts of related possession and distribution of crack cocaine in the Bloomington-Normal area. A co-defendant, Khalil Hood, 29, has also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and to one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Hood is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 31, 2020. Three additional defendants were convicted on state charges in McLean County. As a result of the investigation, officers recovered more than 300 grams of cocaine, four handguns, a pistol-grip shotgun, and a bulletproof vest.

These convictions were secured by a multi-month investigation in the summer and fall of 2018 by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bloomington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam W. Ghrist represented the government in the federal prosecution. The McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office worked together throughout the investigation and prosecution to secure both state and federal convictions.