CHICAGO - A Will County, Ill. man has been indicted on federal drug trafficking charges for allegedly distributing cocaine and attempting to distribute fentanyl in the Chicago area.

WILLIAM R. BUSSE III distributed cocaine and methamphetamine in Chicago in 2021, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Busse also attempted to distribute cocaine and fentanyl in the Chicago suburbs that same year, the indictment states.

The indictment charges Busse, 41, of Homer Glen, Ill., with distribution and attempted distribution of controlled substances. Each of the six counts in the indictment is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth E. Palmer.

The investigation was conducted with the support of the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force (HIDTA). The task force is comprised of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies who work together to identify, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking operations.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.