A. Courtney Cox, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on June 23, four Southern Illinois residents were indicted in a heroin conspiracy.
Carolyn Rea, also known as Carolyn Rose, 37, and Rob A. Rose, 39, both of Cave In Rock; Melanie A. Haas, 23, of Anna and Anastacian N. St. Arbor, 21, of Carbondale were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in East St. Louis in a one-count superseding indictment charging them with conspiracy to distribute heroin.
The violation is alleged to have taken place between December 2008 and May 17, 2010, in Union and Jackson counties.
An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The offense carries a penalty of five to 40 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $2 million and a term of four years' supervised release. Rose and St. Arbor made their initial appearances in federal court on Monday and were ordered held without bond pending jury trial. Rea was previously ordered detained. Haas is on bond pending trial.
Trial in this case is currently scheduled for Aug. 30, 2010.
The investigation was being conducted by the Union County Sheriff's Office, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, and Murphysboro Police Department, in cooperation with Union County State';s Attorney Tyler Edmonds. The investigation is being conducted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, a cooperative effort of local, state, and federal law enforcement, and state and federal prosecuting authorities, aimed at ridding communities of illegal drugs and guns.
The case is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda A. Robertson for prosecution.
