Skip to main content
Press Release

Three Rockford Residents Arrested On Federal Heroin Conspiracy Charges And A Fourth Resident Arrested On A Federal Gun Charge; Authorities Announce Seizures Of A Kilogram Of Heroin And More Than A Quarter Million Dollars

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

ROCKFORD — Three Rockford residents were arrested yesterday by federal and local law enforcement officers on charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin.

 

Arrested on charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin were TYSHON T. WATSON, 22; TERVARIE T. LOTTIE, 29; and JOHNIA WILSON, 39, all of Rockford.  Law enforcement yesterday also executed court-authorized search warrants at multiple locations in Rockford.  During the searches, authorities recovered more than a kilogram of heroin, more than $250,000 in cash, six cars, and four handguns.

 

Indictments returned this week in federal court in Rockford charged Watson, Lottie and Wilson with conspiracy to distribute heroin from May 2017 through October 2017.  Watson and Lottie were also charged with four individual counts of distributing heroin.  The charges also accuse Lottie of conspiring to distribute heroin during a separate three-month period from February 2017 through April 2017. 

 

A fourth defendant, JASMINE N. BRADLEY, 26, of Rockford, was also indicted on three counts of distributing heroin.  Bradley is currently being held in the Winnebago County jail on unrelated state charges.

 

In a separate but related case, DANIEL DAVENPORT, 38, of Rockford, was charged by a federal criminal complaint and arrested yesterday on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  In separate cases, WILLIAM EVANS, 67, of Rockford, was charged in state court with firearm and drug charges, and LATRESE LOTTIE, 44, was charged in state court for possession and manufacture/delivery of cocaine.

 

The charges were announced by Joel R. Levin, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; John P. Selleck, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Celinez Nunez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Dan O’Shea, Rockford Police Chief; Gary Caruana, Winnebago County Sheriff; and Joseph Bruscato, Winnebago County State’s Attorney.  The federal investigation was conducted by the FBI-led Rockford Area Violent Gang Task Force, which includes the above agencies as well as the Loves Park and Freeport Police Departments.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Talia Bucci.

 

“The charges announced today are the result of extraordinary cooperation between federal, state and local authorities, who worked together to dismantle a significant heroin distribution conspiracy,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Levin.  “We are grateful for the tremendous effort and support from our law enforcement partners as we work to stop the flow of illegal narcotics into Rockford and Winnebago County.”

 

"These arrests are just another example of law enforcement partners working together, pooling their resources, to further protect the citizens of Rockford from criminals who make their neighborhoods unsafe," said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg.  "Federal and local law enforcement will continue their efforts to rid the Rockford area of crime and that is what the public should expect; law enforcement on every level targeting those who break the law."

 

Winnebago County States Attorney Bruscato stated, “Collaboration, enhanced by technology and intelligence driven models are resulting in unprecedented enforcement and arrests. It’s just the beginning of what this community can expect to see and should send a message to other criminals that threaten our community.”

 

The public is reminded that a complaint or an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  Each defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Each count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and of distributing heroin carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

 

Defendants Watson, Lottie, Wilson, and Davenport appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston in federal court in Rockford on Nov. 2, 2017.  Each defendant pled not guilty and remains in custody pending detention hearings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Bradley is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Johnston.

 

Updated November 7, 2017

Topic
Drug Trafficking