A man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for the drug-induced homicide of a man who was found dead in Wonder Lake by his mother after a fentanyl overdose.
Dion S. Luster, 48, of Bellwood, was charged in October 2020 with one count of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony.
McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Hunter Jones said police were dispatched on July 14, 2020, to the 4900 block of St. Joseph Court in Wonder Lake.
The 911 caller was a mother who reported finding her son, Jason Martinez, cold to the touch and believed to be deceased. Martinez was later confirmed to be dead.
The mother told officers that Martinez had recently been released from prison and had been a heroin user prior to serving his prison sentence, Jones said.
A week later, sheriff’s detectives spoke to Martinez’s girlfriend who told them that she and her boyfriend had traveled to Chicago on July 10, 2020, to purchase drugs from Luster.
The woman and Martinez took a Metra train from Barrington to Chicago and met Luster approximately a mile from the train station, Jones said.
Phone records from the phones of Martinez and his girlfriend, along with Luster, confirmed the three were in that area.
Martinez’s death was confirmed to be due to fentanyl ingestion, court documents said.
An arrest warrant was issued for Luster in October 2020 after an investigation by the McHenry County Sheriffโs Narcotics Unit and the Chicago DEA High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Task Force.
Luster was arrested and transported to the McHenry County Jail in July 2022.
Luster was ordered held in the McHenry County Jail on a $1 million bond.
Prosecutors said Luster is a convicted felon who has a history of narcotics and weapon offenses, including a previous attempted murder conviction.
Court records show he entered into a plea agreement where he pleaded guilty to his most serious charge, drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony.
McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis accepted the plea on Tuesday and sentenced Luster to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections pursuant to the agreement.
“The McHenry County Stateโs Attorneyโs Office continues to prosecute Cook County drug dealers when they supply fatal drugs to McHenry County residents,” the office said in a statement.
“The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office is grateful to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit for conducting a thorough investigation that resulted in bringing justice to a tragedy. Brian Miller from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office handled the prosecution of this case,” the statement added.
Luster will be required to serve 75% of his sentence in accordance with truth-in-sentencing. He will receive credit for 1,232 days in custody awaiting trial.