Cody Crum pleads guilty to possession of controlled substance in a penal institution

By Benjamin Cox on February 14, 2019 at 9:57am

A Roodhouse man accused of drug-induced homicide within the Greene County Jail is staying behind bars, but he has pleaded guilty to a separate charge, not the alleged homicide.

According to public records of Greene County court documentation, 29 year old Cody Crum was in court last Wednesday. Crum waived his right to a preliminary hearing, accepting a deal to plead guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance within a penal institution. The last time WLDS/WEAI News reported on this case on Crum’s 29th birthday, the potential of a jury trial in regards to the drug-induced homicide charge was still a looming possibility.

Michael Burrus was found unresponsive on August 1st, 2018 in his cell at the Greene County Detention Facility after reportedly overdosing on drugs while in custody. He was later pronounced dead by Greene County Coroner Danny Powell as Burrus was still unresponsive.

The illegal possession charge was added to the case, as the original charge Crum was facing for the drug-induced homicide death of Michael Burrus was dropped per the plea deal.

Cody Crum has been sentenced to 8 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for illegal possession in the jail, and has been given credit for 190 days served since August 1st.

Possession of a controlled substance in a penal institution, specifically possession of contraband classified in Article 2 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act as either Schedule I or II, is a Class 1 felony, while drug-induced homicide is a Class X felony. Another important distinction is that the deal was not for a charge of bringing contraband into a penal institution. Rather, it specifies that Crum was only in possession of drugs within the Greene County Jail.