Hugh Davis

DANVILLE, Ill. (WAND) - A heroin dealer who was caught selling drugs to a confidential informant was sentenced to prison Wednesday. 

On March 14 at an address in the 900 block of Hazel Street in Danville, Hugh Davis sold 16.9 grams of heroin to a confidential informant who was working with the Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group (VMEG). Authorities conducted a sting operation with eavesdropping equipment after obtaining approval from the Vermilion County State's Attorney's Office to do so.

Davis and the informant had been in many similar transactions dating to January 2019, prosecutors said.

Davis was sentenced to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He faced a charge of delivery of a controlled substance (Class X felony). 

Day-for-day sentencing credit applies to Davis' sentence. He will be required to serve three years of parole after his release from prison.

Vermilion County State's Attorney Jacqueline Lacy thanked Special Agent Scott Crawley and other members of VMEG for their tireless efforts to combat drug crimes in Vermilion County. 

"Illegal narcotics are a plague on our community," she said. "And while my office will consider sentencing alternatives to those offenders facing addiction, drug dealers, on the other hand, will receive severe punishment for their reprehensible conduct."Â