The leader of a drug ring has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for orchestrating the sale of fentanyl-laced drugs that led to the separate deaths of a 22-year-old woman and a man in McHenry County.
Rufus L. McGee, 34, of Chicago, was charged in June 2019 with one count of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, and a second count of drug-induced homicide in December 2019.
The first case against McGee stemmed from the death of Shannon N. Finn, 22, of Elgin, who died on May 28, 2019, in Algonquin.
The death was initially investigated by the Algonquin Police Department before the investigation was turned over to the Illinois State Police North Central Narcotics Task Force.
The task force discovered that Finn traveled with three other people to Oak Brook on May 27, 2019.
Prosecutors said Finn and her companions met with McGee, or an individual dealing drugs on his behalf, who sold them heroin laced with fentanyl.
Finn consumed the drugs prior to her death in Algonquin.
The task force learned that McGee, who operated under the street name “Mello,” conducted an elaborate drug-dealing scheme throughout the northwest Chicago suburbs.
Prosecutors said McGee and his associates sold drugs in Cook, DuPage and Kane counties.
McGee’s group did not sell drugs in McHenry County but they regularly sold drugs to McHenry County residents, prosecutors said.
The investigation showed that the group’s sales were directly linked to the overdose death of Robert D. Gibson, 48, of Harvard. He died on March 7, 2019, in Harvard.
Court records show Gibson had obtained heroin and fentanyl from a man who obtained the drugs from McGee or his associates, prosecutors said.
Toxicology results showed Gibson had morphine in his system as well as a high amount of fentanyl.
Gibson’s death was investigated by the Harvard Police Department with the assistance of the North Central Narcotics Task Force.
Court records show McGee entered into negotiated plea deals with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office in both cases on Thursday.
McGee pleaded guilty to drug-induced homicide in Finn’s death and delivery of 1-15 grams of fentanyl in Gibson’s death.
McGee was sentenced to a combined 19 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in both cases as part of the plea agreement, which was approved by McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said she is proud of the work that her office does in partnership with local law enforcement to prosecute overdose deaths in McHenry County.
She said that all drug dealers who “sell death to McHenry County residents” will be investigated and prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law, regardless of whether or not they physically set foot in McHenry County.”
Freese also said that her “heart goes out to the families of the victims in these cases, and all who have lost loved ones to the opioid epidemic.”