Illinois man charged in case of fatal overdose

Accused of selling drugs that led to death of Schererville woman

An Illinois man is the latest to face charges for allegedly selling drugs leading to a fatal overdose.

Yancy D. Craig, of Kankakee and Dolton, Illinois, was charged April 26 with selling fentanyl to Sara Anderson, 25, of Schererville, the day before her March 20, 2021, death, court records allege.

“Can I come by real quick n (sic) get a 40. Of boy (heroin),” Anderson texted him, according to court documents.

Charges were recently unsealed when he was extradited from Kankakee to Lake County. He posted a $4,200 bond Monday. His next hearing is July 6.

Anderson died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the Lake County coroner’s office.

Her parents told police they later found a plastic sandwich bag with an “off-white powdery substance” under a potted plant they suspected was heroin, charges allege.

Craig was a known heroin dealer who also operated in Indiana — a “priority target” tracked by the Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficked Areas’ Heroin Response Project, which is a multi-agency law enforcement initiative, documents state.

He was linked to at least two other overdoses of a Griffith woman and Schererville man in spring 2021, who both survived, the affidavit alleged .

Anderson left behind a son, according to her obituary.

She was a “bright light” with a “contagious laugh” and “keen sense of humor”, her family wrote. She was a talented musician who sang and played piano.

A 2018 Indiana law aimed to punish drug dealers if a link could be made to a fatal overdose.

Craig is formally charged with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a level 1 felony. If convicted, it carries a possible penalty of 20-40 years.