A 50-year-old Racine man could land in prison for the rest of his life as the result of an undercover drug operation that began last November and has led to 11 felony charges filed Thursday.
Louis McCormick, who is in custody and made his initial appearance Thursday afternoon in Racine County Circuit Court, is charged with four felony counts of manufacturing/delivering heroin, five felony counts of maintaining a drug trafficking place, one felony count of
possession with intent to deliver heroin and one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
The possession charge carries a fine of $100,000 and 25 years in prison. The remaining 10 charges carry a total fine of $175,000 and 77 years, six months in prison. Because the alleged offenses occurred within 1,000 feet of a school, the five manufacturing and
possession-related counts could result in an additional 25 years in prison.
Court records indicate that McCormick has a 2010 federal conviction for conspiracy to deliver heroin in. He served two years in federal prison in that case.
According to the criminal complaint, officers with the Racine County Metro Drug Unit used a confidential informant to make a controlled purchase of .2 grams of heroin last November. Four days later, another purchase, this time for .3 grams, was made. Both buys happened within 1,000 feet of St. Catherine’s High School.
A third purchase was made Nov. 29 at 516 Monument Square, within 1,000 feet of a city park, for .2 grams of heroin. The informant again met with McCormick on May 9 in the 800 block of Villa Street, which is within 1,000 feet of Wisconsin Lutheran High School, to make a buy of .3 grams of heroin.
Police located the defendant Wednesday in a Nissan Maxima and took him into custody. During a search, they found a plastic candy container that held eight small knotted bags of a gray substance that later tested positive for 1 gram of heroin. Two more small bags were found in a cigarette pack in McCormick’s possession.
During the execution of a search warrant at the defendant’s home, 1322 Michigan Blvd., the defendant said he travels to Chicago approximately every other Friday to buy about 3 grams of heroin.
Police seized a .45 caliber handgun and 114 rounds inside a bag in the basement. Inside a portable air conditioner was another container that had 100 knotted baggies of what later tested positive for 10 grams of heroin. Police also found several other drug paraphernalia, along with $679 in cash in a wallet in the defendant’s pocket.
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