A Zion man is accused of running a drug operation out of the home where his 5- and 7-year-old sons lived, with three unsecured guns, fentanyl and more than $63,000 in cash stashed throughout the house.
Ceon L. Hill, 39, of Zion, was charged with two counts of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a repeat felony offender, manufacture or delivery of fentanyl, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, three counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, five counts of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, possession of cannabis, manufacture or delivery of cannabis, seven counts of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of child endangerment.
The Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG) launched a narcotics investigation into Hill in early July, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said.
An undercover agent contacted Hill by text message and phone and Hill agreed to sell the agent MDMA pills, McConnell said.
Hill met the agent in the parking lot of a strip mall at 7200 Route 173 in Zion around 6:55 p.m. on July 8 where he sold the agent three MDMA pills for $50, McConnell said.
The agent set up four more purchases with Hill on July 22, July 30, August 12 and August 21, McConnell said.
Each took place at the same strip mall and each time Hill arrived alone and sold the agent three MDMA pills for $50.
The agent got into Hill’s car where the sales took place during two of the transactions and the two pulled their cars next to each other and completed the sales window to window during the others, McConnell said. The pills field-tested positive for MDMA after each buy.
MEG agents then obtained a search warrant for Hill’s home in the 900 block of Pheasant Run in Zion where he lived with his 5-year-old and 7-year-old sons and the children’s mother, McConnell said.
Agents from MEG and assisting agencies conducted the warrant around 5:37 a.m. on August 27, McConnell said.
Officers made entry and saw Hill run from the master bedroom into his children’s room and by the time officers reached the upstairs, Hill was holding one of the children.
Hill and the children were removed from the home, McConnell said.
He told agents the children’s mother had left early that morning to go to the gym and agents believed they saw her car slowly drive past the home during the search without stopping.
In an unlocked kitchen drawer next to the refrigerator, agents found three plastic bags containing a total of 46.6 grams of cocaine, a bag containing 14.6 grams of fentanyl, packaging materials including fold-top sandwich bags, zip-top bags and new, unused packaging designed to look like dispensary cannabis packaging, along with a wallet containing credit cards in Hill’s name.
Agents found 133 MDMA pills in a cardboard shopping bag on the dining room table and in a backpack on the kitchen counter, McConnell said.
A plastic bag on the kitchen counter contained around 346 grams of cannabis and a bag inside a men’s jacket contained a small amount of heroin.
Officers also found multiple scales throughout the house, including some with white powder residue that field-tested positive for cocaine, McConnell said.
Three firearms were recovered during the search.
A Sig Sauer P226 pistol loaded with an empty magazine was found on top of a kitchen cabinet, a Taurus pistol loaded with live ammunition was found in the chest pocket of a men’s jacket in the master bedroom closet and an AR pistol was found in a duffel bag on the floor of the closet along with a loaded 30-round magazine and a loaded 60-round magazine.
Two boxes of ammunition were also found in the closet. McConnell said none of the locations where the guns were found were locked or otherwise secured to keep the children from accessing them.
Agents found a money counting machine, Hill’s cellphone and a second wallet containing credit cards in Hill’s name under the bed in the master bedroom, McConnell said.
The bedroom also contained Hill’s passport, family photos and his clothing and hats.
Agents found a total of $63,143 in cash stashed throughout the house, much of it rolled up or wadded inside plastic bags, McConnell said.
Hill was previously sentenced to over four years in prison for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in a 2017 Lake County case, eight years in prison for unlawful delivery in a 2012 case and four years in prison for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon in a 2008 case.
Prosecutors filed a petition to detain seeking to have Hill held in the Lake County Jail while his case is pending.
McConnell argued that Hill was running a large-scale drug operation out of the home while his children were present, with firearms and lethal narcotics left where the children could easily access them.
Hill remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on September 24 for a hearing on a motion to disqualify the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office from prosecuting the case and a motion to strike the state’s petition to detain.