Southwest IL man hid drugs under an infant in his car. Now he is going to prison

An East St. Louis man was sentenced to 13 years in federal court for possessing fentanyl and cocaine with the intent to distribute.

Mario A. Foster will spend three years on supervised release at the completion of his sentence and was also ordered to pay $200 in special assessments along with a $500 fine, according to court documents.

Charges filed in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois alleged that Foster was stopped and arrested following a call to law enforcement regarding a parental abduction. Law enforcement observed a 3-month old infant sitting in a removable child safety seat.

When the infant was removed from the seat, officers discovered the baby had been sitting on a baggy containing fentanyl and a baggy containing cocaine base.

Fentanyl’s deadliness is no secret,” United States Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said. “It is unfathomable that this defendant selfishly chose to place an infant in jeopardy in an apparent effort to conceal his crimes. His 13-year prison sentence is well-deserved.”

The United States Marshal Service and the Belleville Police Department investigated the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Hudson prosecuted it.