United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EAST ST. LOUIS, IL - . - A Centralia, Illinois, man, convicted of distributing crack cocaine, was sentenced to 120 (10 years), in federal prison on March 24, 2011, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.

James M. Strowder, 21, of Centralia, Illinois, previously pleaded guilty to a three-count indictment returned by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in East. St. Louis, Illinois. Count 1 charges that between April 2009, and October 2009, in Marion County, Strowder engaged in a conspiracy to distribute more than (50) grams of crack cocaine. Count 2 charges that on May 21, 2009, Strowder distributed crack cocaine. Count 3 charges that on May 26, 2009, Strowder distributed crack cocaine.

At sentencing, the District Judge noted that Strowder’s pretrial bond had been revoked because Strowder had continued to distribute crack cocaine while on bond.

The investigation was conducted by the Centralia Police Department, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, the Joint Narcotics Unit of the Mt. Vernon Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Illinois State Police, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County State’s Attorney’s Office, the United States Secret Service, the United States Marshal Service, and other law enforcement agencies pursuant to their participation in the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a joint and cooperative effort of the United States Attorney’s Office, and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies directed at removing guns and drugs from our communities.