DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that a Burr Ridge man has been sentenced to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to supplying narcotics to a 23-year-old Hinsdale woman who subsequently died from an overdose.
Wasim Rashan, 30, of the 800 block of Lakeview Lane, entered his plea Monday morning in front of Judge Daniel Guerin, who handed down the sentence. In all, Rashan entered a plea of guilty to one count of drug induced homicide, a Class X Felony and one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with Intent to Deliver, a Class 3 Felony. He received a 10-year sentence on the drug induced homicide charge, to be served at 75 percent, and a consecutive two-year sentence on the possession with intent to deliver charge to be served at 50 percent.
Rashan has been in custody since May 2, 2019.
In the late evening hours of Jan. 14, 2019, Hinsdale police officers responded to a report of an unresponsive person at her home. Upon their arrival, authorities found the victim deceased in the residence, the apparent victim of a drug overdose. At the scene, authorities recovered baggies in the victim’s bedroom containing a substance, later determined to be a heroin/fentanyl mixture.
An investigation into the death conducted by the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group and the Hinsdale Police Department led to Rashan. The following day, a search warrant was executed at Rashan’s home, during which authorities found baggies that matched the baggies found at the victim’s home, a scale with drug residue on it as well as a list of names and phone numbers that included the victim’s name and number. The investigation further revealed that on the day of her death, the victim died from a drug overdose after ingesting a heroin/fentanyl mixture supplied to her by Rashan.
“In 2020, DuPage County suffered 112 opioid overdose deaths, a 17 percent increase from the year before” Berlin said. “2020 also marked the first year that we grieved more than 100 deaths due to opioid overdose. To reduce this number of senseless deaths to the only acceptable number, which is zero, we must get these drugs off the streets. One way to do this is to hold those who bring these drugs to our communities accountable.
“A drug dealer, a friend or even a family member may have second thoughts about supplying this poison knowing that they will be looking at a significant amount of time behind bars if they are the proven to be the source of a fatal overdose,” he continued.
“Perhaps knowing that the man responsible for supplying that fatal dose will be held accountable will provide some measure of justice to the victim’s family and friends.”
