Feds want McGilvery to remain in custody; Wigginton says prosecutors will use proffer information

U.S. Attorney Stephen Wigginton wants accused heroin dealer Sean D. McGilvery to remain in federal custody in spite of an effort to get him into a residential drug treatment program.

Wigginton also indicated that prosecutors would use and refer to information given by McGilvery in a proffer session at a detention hearing to “fully and fairly inform the fact finder of the true nature of the Defendant’s involvement in the case.”

McGilvery’s attorney Rodney D. Holmes of St. Louis filed a motion to reconsider an order of detention on Monday, saying his client would be interviewed for admission into the “S.M.A.R.T.S.” drug rehab program this week.

“Additionally, defendant’s family has provided the names of several family members with stable homes that are willing to accept him into their residence with a condition of GPS monitoring and house arrest should this Court issue a bond,” Holmes wrote.

A bond hearing is set at 1 p.m. on June 20 in East St. Louis before Magistrate Judge Donald Wilkerson.

McGilvery, of Belleville, was arrested on May 23 and charged with possessing and distributing large quantities of heroin – exceeding one kilogram — in an operation where resources were pooled and drugs were run from Chicago. He has pleaded not guilty.

In response to McGilvery’s motion to reconsider his order of detention, Wigginton said the government would object to the defendant being released to unnamed family members without a full home visit and criminal record check of those individuals.

He also made note of McGilvery’s previous failed attempts at drug rehabilitation.

“Defendant has not provided this Court with any information which would indicate that he would likely successfully complete a course of treatment while on bond in light of his prior unsuccessful efforts,” Wigginton wrote.

He contends that McGilvery continues to be a flight risk, a danger to the community and that he poses a risk of obstructing or attempting to obstruct justice or threatening other witnesses.

Wigginton also argues that the S.M.A.R.T.S Program may not be able to treat a person on methadone, funding may not be available, nor is it a secure facility.

“Defendant has failed to assert in his motion that he can self-fund residential treatment, as defendants sometimes do, thus increasing the range or options available to the Court as it considers its statutory obligation to ensure the safety of the community, to secure the appearance of the Defendant, and to protect the integrity of the process,” he wrote.

In connection to McGilvery’s arrest, former St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael Cook also faces federal drug-related charges. He was arrested at McGilvery’s house on May 22 and charged May 24 with possession of heroin and being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms. He entered a not guilty plea to both charges, stepped down from the bench on May 29 and entered a drug rehab program.

Former St. Clair County probation officer James Fogarty also faces related charges. He is accused of supplying drugs to Cook and to the late Associate Judge Joseph Christ who died of cocaine intoxification on March 10. Fogarty told an FBI agent that he had used drugs with Cook and Christ on multiple occasions. He also said that he supplied them with cocaine the day before the judges went to a hunting cabin in Pike County – where Christ died.

Fogarty, who has pleaded not guilty, posted a $10,000 bond and was released on June 4.