A Round Lake Beach man who allegedly peddled a powerful hallucinogen blamed for the deaths of three suburban residents pleaded guilty in McHenry County Court this week to selling one of the victims the drugs that killed him.
Steven Jergensen, 20, told investigators he sold the pills, which he believed to be the popular club drug Ecstasy, to his friend Steven Lorenz, 17, of McHenry. He said he did not know the pills were a potentially lethal Ecstasy look-alike.
Lorenz’s death last year was the first in the Chicago area linked to a batch of the look-alike drug, called PMA. His May 7 death was followed a week later by that of Naperville Central High School senior Sara Aeschlimann. A few days later, Jason Burnett, 20, of Lisle, also died after taking the drug.
Although different drug dealers sold the pills to the three victims, who did not know each other, prosecutors believe all of the pills, which are stamped with three diamonds, came from the same manufacturer.
McHenry County prosecutors, who said the investigation is continuing, will not comment on whether they know the identity of the manufacturer.
Jergensen, who prosecutors said has cooperated with federal and local law enforcement since his arrest, could face punishment ranging from probation to 7 years in prison.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28.
The trial has not begun in the Aeschlimann case.
The Burnett case is still under investigation, and no charges have been filed.
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Jergensen’s attorney, William Margolin, said he wants the judge to give probation to his client, who has no felony background and has expressed remorse.
Prosecutors said they will ask the judge to put Jergensen in prison.
“It only took two to three pills to kill Lorenz,” Assistant State’s Atty. Robert Beaderstadt said about the PMA, or paramethoxyamphetamine, a hallucinogen many times more potent than Ecstasy.
Ecstasy, which contains the active ingredient methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is popular among some people who go to clubs because of the dual effect of acting as a stimulant and a hallucinogen.
As demand has risen in recent years, lawmakers, including state Rep. Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst), have examined ways to toughen drug laws to punish Ecstasy makers and sellers.
Meanwhile, authorities are trying to educate the public about how Ecstasy, while itself dangerous, can be confused with more powerful and potentially fatal drugs because the pills come in almost indistinguishable shapes and colors.
“It’s made in a street lab, and you don’t know what you are getting,” Beaderstadt said. “But it’s poison.”