Suburban man convicted of running heroin enterprise on West Side
March 12, 2014|Staff report

A Suburban man was found guilty by a federal jury after a week long trial of running a heroin distribution organization on the West Side and laundering the proceeds of the 6-year conspiracy by purchasing expensive suburban properties, officials said.

David Price, 34, was convicted this morning after the jury deliberated for about an hour on Tuesday evening and resumed this morning in U.S. District Court in Chicago when he was found guilty of all charges, according to Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.

His lawyers denied he conspired to traffic heroin.

For the conspiracy count alone, Price faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in federal prison, officials said. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber set sentencing for July 30.

Price, also known as “Shorty,” “Lil Dave,” and “Hot Sauce,” was convicted on 13 counts, including the heroin conspiracy, using a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime, money laundering conspiracy, nine counts of money laundering totaling approximately $448,000, and being a convicted felon-in-possession of an Uzi-style 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol that was loaded with a 30-round extended magazine, Samborn said.

Price was living in Brookfield at the time of his arrest in August 2012 and remains in federal custody without bond.

At various times, Price lived in homes or buildings in Country Club Hills, Darien, Lombard, Bolingbrook, and high-rises in downtown Chicago, which he bought or rented in the names of other people, including his father, with drug proceeds, Samborn said.

During trial, evidence was introduced that Price bought at least six luxury vehicles, including a Corvette and a motorcycle, and expensive jewelry with drug money including a $35,000 watch with 1,018 diamonds, totaling about 22 karats, which was seized from Price.

The government’s bid to forfeit the watch, vehicles, and properties, as well as $1.1 million in proceeds, remains pending and will be decided later by Judge Leinenweber.

Evidence showed that Price ran the distribution ring from 2005 through 2011, but focused on 2007 and 2008. Price “fronted” wholesale quantities of heroin to be sold at various west side drug spots and rotated sharing the profits with the supervisors of those locations, which included street corners along Augusta at Keeler, Lawler, and Laramie/Leamington; Kostner and Cortez; Iowa and Lamon; and Erie and Kilptarick, among others.

Price and others involved in the conspiracy - all of whom have been convicted separately - used an apartment on the 5200 block of West Division Street, which they referred to as “Up Top,” to mix heroin with the sleeping pill Dormin, and package it for sale in retail packages and bundles.

Three co-conspirators testified as government witnesses, including James Brown. The evidence established that Price directed two members of his crew to shoot and kill Brown on Jan. 25, 2008, because Brown owed a drug debt to Price and believed he was cooperating with law enforcement. Brown survived the shooting.

do u have the original indictment or is this it

Using the phone. Brilliant.

@northjerseyshore


oh yeah because no mafia members or associates get caught on a tapped phone

or do they just get caught on their best friends hidden recording device?

Another black dealer looking at a life bid. He made it to 34 though, gotta give him credit for making it pass the average career span. By 8 years, impressive.

Yes very true most don't make it out of their mid twenties.

You are wrong about getting life at 26, north. You most likely get clipped at like 17 over an almost unpaying dealing gig on a corner somewhere in Baltimore or Chicago.