A 38-year-old Plano man is headed to prison for the fifth time after being found guilty of selling heroin to undercover officers in Kendall County.
Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said that Nicholas Amelio, 3600 block of Bailey Street, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Kendall County Chief Judge Tim McCann for the 2014 sales.
With 15 prior felony convictions, and now five prison stints, Weis said Amelio has the worst criminal history he has seen since he took office.
“His goal was to put heroin into the hands of addicts and users without regard to the consequences of his actions. His concern was only money,” Weis said.
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Amelio was convicted back in June following a two-day jury trial in Kendall County. Weis said jurors found Amelio guilty of delivering heroin to undercover officers from the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Task Force on four occasions in October of 2014.
During Amelio’s trial, task force members testified they bought heroin from Amelio multiple times, completing the sales in the parking lot of a Yorkville business. On the day of his arrest, Amelio sold more than 20 grams of heroin to an undercover officer and was taken into custody. He has remained in jail since his arrest, Weis said.
Prior to imposing his sentence, McCann said that no one will ever know where the drugs Amelio was selling would have ended up.
“There are disastrous consequences of heroin use in Kendall County. The defendant is part of that problem,” McCann said. “He is a real danger to the community.”
Amelio was given a 25-year sentence on each of four drug charges. The sentences will be served concurrently, followed by three years of parole.
“This sentence should send a message to drug dealers that Kendall County does not want you here and will prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law,” Weis said. “Hopefully, by doing so, we may be able to prevent another senseless death from heroin use.”