United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PEORIA, Ill. – Robert Bell, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris of the Central District of Illinois announced that Dustin R. Test, 39, from Peoria, Illinois, was sentenced on Jan. 6, 2022, to 15 years and 10 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

At Test’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge James E. Shadid stated that Test had a troubled upbringing and noted he was in foster care for part of his childhood. The judge also considered Test’s criminal history, which included several convictions for aggravated battery, forgery, and residential burglary.

At the hearing, the government explained that Test’s offense conduct included Test working with other drug associates to purchase and resell large amounts of ice methamphetamine. At the height of his drug trafficking, Test and an associate purchased three pounds of crystal methamphetamine. 

Test was indicted in September 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021.

The statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine for a person with prior felony convictions are not less than ten years and up to forty years of imprisonment, an eight-year to life term of supervised release, and an up to $8 million dollar fine.

The DEA and the Pekin Police Department and investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine G. Legge represented the government in the prosecution.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)’s National Methamphetamine Strategic Initiative, spearheaded locally out of the Pekin Police Department. The primary goal of this initiative is to address methamphetamine trafficking and its attendant consequences by using a coordinated, multi-agency approach targeting the highest levels of drug trafficking leadership. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.