McHenry County judge says crimes do not ‘define’ defendant, gives him 6 years in prison in fentanyl plea

In accepting a man’s guilty plea on a fentanyl charge and sentencing him to six years in prison Monday, McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis said, “This is not a moment that defines you as a bad person.”

Lucious T. Hemphill, 22, of Maywood, entered into a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of unlawful possession with intent to deliver between 1 and 15 grams of fentanyl.

Hemphill initially was charged with more serious crimes and accused of being part of an ongoing drug trafficking operation involving two other men.

In exchange for his guilty plea, other charges were dismissed, including calculated criminal drug conspiracy, a Class X felony, according to records in the McHenry County courthouse.

Conviction on a Class X felony could have sent him to prison for up to 30 years.

Hemphill was charged along with Ryan James, 27, of Crystal Lake, and Jacob Stealy, 26, of West Dundee, on the calculated conspiracy charge. Hemphill also was charged in December 2021 with possession of less than 15 grams of fentanyl.

James and Stealy also are charged with drug-induced homicide for allegedly selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to Colton Steiner, 27, of Crystal Lake. Steiner died from a fentanyl overdose June 23, 2021.

James’s and Stealy’s cases are pending, and each is due in court Thursday, court records show.

On or about Dec. 3, 2021, members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Task Force interviewed James, who said he had been “actively selling pressed fentanyl pills” and that Hemphill was his “exclusive source for the pills,” Assistant State’s Attorney Ken Hudson wrote in a motion.

According to the court records, officers then contacted Hemphill, set up a meeting and asked Hemphill to bring with him 100 fentanyl pills. He arrived at the pre-arranged location with 123 pills that field-tested positive for “presumptive presence of fentanyl” and $902 in cash, according to the motion.

During Monday’s sentencing Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Brodersen said the pills were “fake Percocets.”

In sentencing Hemphill, Davis said she took into account that other than the current charges, he has no criminal background.

She said she was “disheartened” to see him before her and believed that if he was smart enough to commit the offenses he is accused of, he “is smart enough to go to school.”

She told him that she hopes he uses this as “a good learning experience and you don’t return to a life of crime.”

Hemphill is required to serve half of his prison term and will be on one year of mandatory supervised release upon completion.

Hemphill also will receive credit for 365 days spent in the county jail. Fees and fines assessed were waived.