The interdiction last November of the delivery of one and a half kilos of cocaine at a Forest Park residence just two blocks east of the Forest Park police station has resulted in the indictment of six people on drug conspiracy charges.
A superseding indictment filed in federal court June 10 lodged drug conspiracy charges against Andre DeBruce, 40, of Schiller Park, and Terrance Patton, 40, Craig Caldwell, 43, Timothy Belin, 48, Jennifer Word, 39, and Denomoius Wells, 41, all of Chicago.
Patton, Caldwell and DeBruce all have prior criminal convictions, DeBruce for distribution of heroin in 2011, and Caldwell and Patton for weapons violations. Caldwell faces an additional federal gun charge for allegedly possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The charges against him carry a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.
Patton and DeBruce face mandatory minimums of five years if convicted, and maximum sentences of 40 years. Belin, Word, and Wells each face up to 20 years, with no mandatory minimum.
All six have pleaded not guilty and have court dates later this month.
In an affidavit filed as part of the initial criminal complaint against DeBruce last December, law enforcement alleged that he “is a member of a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) operating in Chicago, Schiller Park, Forest Park, Maywood, and elsewhere in the Chicagoland area.”
Prosecutors say that between April and September of last year, a confidential informant was cooperating “with the FBI and a local police department,” regarding drug trafficking in and around the near western suburbs.
As the saying goes, law enforcement was all up in DeBruce’s (alleged) business. Agents in an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) listened and watched as DeBruce made calls and moved between his girlfriend’s apartment on River Road in Schiller Park to his alleged supplier in Cicero and “Individual A,” a resident of the 500 block of Beloit in Forest Park who is alleged to be a wholesale drug customer.
Starting last August, prosecutors said, law enforcement was conducting regular surveillance on and around the 500 block of Beloit.
The evening of Nov. 11, agents reportedly listened as DeBruce received a phone call from Individual A, who stated, “yo I really think im finna be dead G (meaning he was low on his quantity of drugs).” He reportedly told DeBruce one of his customers had just called him looking to buy 63 grams of coke.
“I’m really thinking he’s dead (out of drugs),” Individual A told DeBruce.
“You wanna call dude and see if he coming back tomorrow?” DeBruce suggested.
“Hell yeah n****,” Individual A replied. Arrangements were then allegedly made for DeBruce to drive to Forest Park the next evening to resupply Individual A. “I’m trying to see should I just tell him to bring one and a half (one and half kilograms) and then you have your half,” DeBruce reportedly said. “I’ll figure that s*** out tomorrow.”
Early the next afternoon, as law enforcement watched and listened in, DeBruce allegedly called from his Cicero supplier and told Individual A to be ready around 5 p.m. However, even alleged drug dealers have to deal with the same mundane hassles as normal folk, it seems, and at 5:21 pm, the supplier called to say he was running late.
“What up bro, my bad man I’m in f***** traffic right now,” the supplier said. “It lookin’ like 30 minutes to get to my house.”
“So about an hour?” DeBruce asked.
“Yeah, around there,” the supplier replied. “And then uhh depends on where I go to see you.”
“Imma be over there ummm at the same place,” DeBruce said.
“By the gas station?” the supplier asked.
“Yeah, over on Harlem yeah,” DeBruce replied, referring to a gas station on Harlem Avenue that agents say was the site of a previous meeting on Oct. 2 between Individual A, DeBruce and the supplier.
At 7:43 p.m., agents observed a gray Jeep leave the residence on the 500 block of Beloit and pull over on Jackson Boulevard. Several minutes later they reportedly watched as DeBruce arrived in another vehicle, got out, and walked toward the alley behind the west side of the 500 block of Beloit. Officers said he appeared to be holding something under his jacket, and that when they called out to DeBruce, he started running east through Individual A’s yard.
As DeBruce reached the front porch stairs of the residence, prosecutors say, a law enforcement officer pursuing him “heard a thud-like noise.” Another officer who was positioned on the street in front of the residence “observed DeBruce appear to kneel to the ground and throw an unknown item or items under the front stairs of the …residence.”
DeBruce was apprehended and questioned. He denied knowing Individual A and told officers that he had come from the Blue Line where, “he had been selling loose cigarettes.” He was released after questioning.
On Dec 19, DeBruce was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. He was initially denied bond but was later released on a secured $10,000 bond.
In the meantime, agents were pursuing their investigation into others allegedly working with DeBruce, culminating in the June superseding indictment and arrests.
If proven in court, the events that prosecutors allege took place last November might feel like deja vu all over again for DeBruce.
Nearly 13 years to the day, on Nov. 7, 2011 DeBruce, then 27 and living in Bellwood, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver in DuPage County. During a narcotics investigation, according to media reports then, DeBruce “arrived at a predetermined location” on the 600 block of North York Road to deliver 34 bags of heroin.
Police say DeBruce ran and was observed throwing away a clear plastic baggie, which was recovered and found to contain 34 packets of heroin. He was arrested, charged, convicted of delivery of 10-15 grams of heroin and sentenced to four years in the Vienna Correctional Center. His reported release date was in November, 2013.