EAST ST. LOUIS — According to Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, a 26-year-old Chicago man has been sentenced to 5-years in federal prison, after he earlier pleaded guilty to charges of selling heroin in Marion County.

Darnell Roy Baker, a.k.a. “Forty,” was sentenced for one county Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin from September 2012 through October 2014 in Marion County, and four counts of Distribution of Heroin during June and July 2014, also in Marion County.

The offenses are in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. According to court documents, Baker agreed with his co-defendants, Dominique Burwell, and Marquise Ross, to distribute heroin for profit in Centralia.

Baker and the others shared a cell phone which customers would contact to order heroin. Burwell often answered the shared cell phone, took the order, and then sent Baker or Ross to complete the transaction with the customer at whatever location was agreed upon. In July, Burwell was convicted in the case.

In August, Ross pleaded guilty in the case and is awaiting sentencing. Information leading to the charges against Baker was obtained in an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.