Mt. Sterling Man Indicted on Federal Drug Charges

By Benjamin Cox on May 20, 2022 at 1:15pm

Photo Courtesy of Schuyler County Sheriff's Office.

A Mt. Sterling man recently was indicted on federal drug charges.

Muddy River News reports that 58 year old Thomas L. Langan of rural Mt. Sterling was indicted last Tuesday, May 10th by the U.S. State’s Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois on five counts of selling and distribution of a controlled substance known to be methamphetamine.

According to federal court records, the offenses were allegedly committed between January 10th and February 1st in Brown County.

Muddy River News reports that the West Central Illinois Drug Task Force, in conjunction with a SWAT team with the Illinois State Police and sworn personnel from the Brown County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant on Feb. 1 at Langan’s residence in rural Mt. Sterling and discovered and seized more than 15 grams of methamphetamine along with other drug paraphernalia that would indicate the alleged sales and distribution of the drug.

According to Brown County Circuit Court records, Brown County State’s Attorney Michael Hill filed an action of civil asset forfeiture pursuant to the provisions of the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act and the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. According to the contents of the court record, the Illinois State Police have seized Langan’s mobile home, approximately two acres of real estate, along with $4,402 believed to facilitate the illegal sales and delivery of the seized methamphetamine. The items were declared forfeited to the ISP by court action on April 11th according to court records.

Langan’s original cases in Brown County court have been dismissed per the federal charges on Monday last week. He has been removed from the custody of the Schuyler County Jail and has been placed into federal custody.

Langan’s federal jury trial has been scheduled to begin in Springfield on July 5th. His next appearance is a pre-trial hearing on June 23rd.