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Press Release

Drug Trafficker Sentenced To 20 Years In Federal Prison For Supervising Sales Of Over 30 Kilos Of Heroin On City’s West Side

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois

CHICAGO ― The leader of a drug trafficking organization who created and managed a heroin distribution operation run via a hotline telephone between 2008 and 2012 on the city’s west side was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison yesterday, federal law enforcement officials announced.  The defendant, PIERRE HENDERSON, was responsible for supervising the distribution of over 30 kilograms of heroin, a federal judge determined before imposing the sentence.

Henderson, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in December 2014. U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman imposed the 20-year sentence on Wednesday. Henderson’s brother, Eric Henderson, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in January 2014. In March 2015, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman sentenced Eric Henderson to 200 months in federal prison.

The defendant’s organization sold tens of thousands of user quantities to individuals from all over the Chicagoland area, “argued Assistant U.S. Attorney Shoba Pillay in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “His conduct directly contributed to the drug trafficking and attendant violence plaguing the streets of the city of Chicago and the heroin addiction crisis now afflicting this city.”

According to court documents, the Henderson brothers were involved in prolific daily sales of heroin to customers who called into the hotline to order heroin. After placing their phone orders the Henderson brothers’ customers traveled from all over the Chicagoland area to the city’s west-side to purchase heroin from street-level distributors, who worked for the Henderson brothers.

The Henderson brothers were among 8 federal defendants who were arrested in May 2013 following an FBI investigation, code-named Operation Heroin Hotline, of a phone-order heroin trafficking operation. 

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was led by the FBI and was conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) in coordination with the Chicago Police Department.  

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Shoba Pillay and Lindsay Jenkins. 

Updated July 23, 2015