From the State’s Attorney:
RUFUS L. MCGEE, AKA “MELLO”, SENTENCED TO NINETEEN YEARS IN THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR DRUG INDUCED HOMICIDE AND UNLAWFUL DELIVERY OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi L. Freese announces that on June 12, 2025, Rufus L. McGee, 34, of Chicago, was sentenced to nineteen years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the offenses of Drug Induced Homicide and Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance.
McGee was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Tiffany Davis after entering a negotiated plea of guilty.
On May 28, 2019, a woman died of a heroin and fentanyl overdose in Algonquin, Illinois.
The death was initially investigated by the Algonquin Police Department.
The investigation was turned over to the Illinois State Police North Central Narcotics Task Force.
The Task Force discovered that, on May 27, 2019, the deceased traveled with three other people to Oak Brook, Illinois.
While there, the deceased and her companions met with McGee, or an individual dealing drugs on his behalf, who sold them heroin laced with fentanyl.
The deceased consumed the drugs prior to her death in Algonquin.
Throughout the investigation, the Task Force learned that McGee, who operated under the street name “Mello”, conducted an elaborate drug dealing scheme throughout the northwest Chicago suburbs.
Evidence showed that McGee, and his associates, sold drugs in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties.
While McGee’s group never sold drugs in McHenry County, they regularly sold drugs to McHenry County residents.
The investigation showed that their sales were directly related to a Harvard man’s death in March of 2019.
That death was investigated by the Harvard Police Department in cooperation with the North Central Narcotics Task Force.
Ultimately, McGee pled guilty to Drug Induced Homicide in relation to the woman who died in Algonquin.
He pled guilty to Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance in connection to the death of the man in Harvard.
State’s Attorney Freese is proud of the work that the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office does in partnership with local law enforcement to prosecute overdose deaths in McHenry County.
She emphasized that, “all drug dealers who sell death to McHenry County residents will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of whether or not they physically set foot in McHenry County.”
Freese further commented that, “her heart goes out to the families of the victims in these cases, and all who have lost loved ones to the opioid epidemic.”
Ms. Freese expresses special gratitude for the tireless investigative efforts that John Palmer, Jeffrey File and David Sander put into this case while working for the North Central Narcotics Task Force.
She congratulates the entire North Central Narcotics Task Force, the Algonquin Police Department, and the Harvard Police Department for their work in bringing Mr. McGee to justice.
This case was successfully prosecuted by McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office Deputy Chief Brian Miller.
