SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)), published as received.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Kentucky man, Larry Beville, 62, was sentenced on December 19, 2024, to 15 years in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. He will serve five years of supervised release following his release from prison.  

At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless, the government presented evidence that Beville delivered a kilogram of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer in the Central District of Illinois and was arrested with another kilogram of methamphetamine in Indiana approximately a month later. In total, Beville was held accountable for trafficking over 600 grams of methamphetamine.

Beville, along with five co-defendants, were charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in an indictment returned in April 2023. Many of his co-defendants are purported members of the Simon City Royals street gang.  One of the co-defendants, has pleaded guilty and the other co-defendants are pending trial. Members of the public are reminded that the charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Beville pleaded guilty in August 2024. He has been in the custody of the United States Marshals Service since his arrest in April 2023.

The statutory penalties for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine are not less than 10 years, up to life imprisonment, up to a $10,000,000 fine, up to a life term of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, and Illinois State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Beville was part of an investigation of the Simon City Royals street gang and was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.