United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PEORIA, Ill. – Robert Bell, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris for the Central District of Illinois announced that Dustin R. Test, 39, from Peoria, Illinois, was sentenced on Jan. 6, 2022, to 190 months imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

At Test’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge James E. Shadid stated that Test had a troubled upbringing and noted he was in foster care for part of his childhood. The judge also considered Test’s criminal history, which included several convictions for aggravated battery, forgery, and residential burglary.

At the hearing, the government explained that Test’s offense conduct included Test working with other drug associates to purchase and resell large amounts of ice methamphetamine. At the height of his drug trafficking, Test and an associate purchased three pounds of ice methamphetamine.

Test was indicted in September 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021.

The statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine for a person with prior felony convictions are not less than ten years and up to forty years of imprisonment, an 8-year to life term of supervised release, and an up to $8 million dollar fine.

The Pekin Police Department and DEA investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine G. 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.