Jacksonville Woman Indicted on Federal Drug Charges

By Benjamin Cox on October 14, 2022 at 1:10pm

Photo Courtesy of the Morgan County Sheriff's Office.

A Morgan County woman has been indicted on federal drug charges.

58 year old Tonja L. Day of the 800 block of Routt Street in Jacksonville was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 7th for possession with intent to deliver 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on July 25th, according to federal charging documents. Day was arrested on October 4th after a Morgan County Court hearing with the unsealing of the indictment coming last Wednesday.

Day’s charges in Morgan County Court of possession of methamphetamine less than 5 grams from a February 7th arrest along with the July 25th arrest by Jacksonville Police for methamphetamine delivery between 15-100 grams and possession of methamphetamine between 5-15 grams were dropped pursuant to the federal case. Day also has a pending case of possession of methamphetamine less than 5 grams from a June 8th arrest near Greenfield that still remains pending in Greene County Circuit Court.

Day was arraigned on the federal charges in U.S Central District federal court last Thursday. Day was appointed a federal public defender and had a jury trial set in front of federal Judge Sue E. Myerscough for December 6th.

At a detention hearing on Tuesday, Day was ordered detained and taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. According to Day’s detention filing, the charges in the case involve a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Day was also deemed a danger to the community with a lengthy criminal history and a predisposition to re-offend if offered bond citing 2 unnamed pending cases that violated Day’s probation from a 2021 conviction for possession of methamphetamine in Morgan County, according to documents signed by federal Judge Karen McNaught. Day remains held within the custody of the U.S Marshals in Springfield.

Day is next due in federal court for a pre-trial hearing on November 17th.