A Sacramento man who coordinated over 200 shipments of high-purity methamphetamine to Chicago, including many parcels sent to Lakeview and other communities, has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
Keith R. McCormick, 54, mailed the packages from a shipping company in California, with the majority carrying a pound of 90% to 100% pure methamphetamine. Officials claimed he used gloves while preparing the shipments, wiped packages with Clorox wipes, vacuum-sealed the medications, and double-boxed them to evade discovery.
According to authorities, local co-conspirators received the parcels and subsequently organized the sale of the drugs on city streets.
Federal prosecutors said the conspiracy took place from at least February 2022 to early February 2023, with deliveries made to the 1100 block of West Roscoe Street and the 600 block of West Barry Street in Lakeview, the 5100 block of South Neenah Avenue in Garfield Ridge, the 5800 block of West 60th Street in Clearing, the 4000 block of North Harding Avenue in Irving Park, and the 5000 block of North Kenmore Avenue in Uptown. Additional supplies were routed to suburban North Riverside.
Authorities claimed nine of the boxes were intercepted and searched under federal warrants, yielding more than nine pounds of methamphetamine in total. In May 2022, a parcel shipped to North Riverside was unintentionally opened by a relative of the intended receiver, revealing over 450 grams of methamphetamine with a purity of around 97%. The relative handed it over to law enforcement.
Investigators analyzed encrypted communications, including Signal and Telegram discussions, in which the conspirators discussed shipments, payment information, and distributors.
McCormick was indicted alongside five men from the Chicago area. The complaint listed Stephen R. Jenkins, 46, as the organization’s leader. He was condemned to fourteen years in prison. Daniel Heise, 43, got a 12-year term. Donald W Grenier Jr., 64, and Jose Hernandez, 48, were both sentenced to four years in jail.
William F. Koch, 38, the fifth suspected co-conspirator, died in 2024. Prosecutors dropped the accusations against him after his death.
Prosecutors claimed McCormick orchestrated the plot with Jenkins and Heise, who then oversaw the distribution network and arranged for the money to be returned to McCormick via FedEx and UPS.
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