Volo man pleads guilty to giving fentanyl-laced pills to man who died at McHenry hospital

A Volo man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to delivering the drugs that resulted in the overdose of a man who died in a McHenry hospital.

Jerry L. Gray, 30, pleaded guilty to delivering 1 to 15 grams of fentanyl, a Class 1 felony, as part of a plea deal. In exchange for the guilty plea, a more serious charge of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony that could result in decades in prison if convicted, was dismissed, according to the judgment order filed in McHenry County court.

Gray is required to serve half of his prison term and will receive credit for 308 days already spent in the county jail, Judge Mark Gerhardt said in accepting the plea. After his release, he will be on one year of mandatory supervised release, the judge said.

Gerhardt noted that Gray’s offense was the result of the use, abuse or addiction to alcohol or drugs. This serves as a recommendation to Illinois Department of Corrections that Gray participate in substance abuse treatment programs.

Between Aug. 10 and 11, 2023, police said Gray sold fentanyl-laced Percocet pills to Michael S. Wood, who ingested them, then died at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital.

Wood was brought to the McHenry hospital after Lake County sheriff’s deputies responded to a home in Volo for a report of a man not breathing. After police and paramedics performed lifesaving actions, Wood was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to early reports.

Wood, of Volo, was 33. The McHenry County Coroner’s Office ruled that Wood’s death was a result of adverse effects of fentanyl, according to the earlier report.

Lake County investigated Wood’s death, leading to Gray’s arrest. Gray’s case was heard in McHenry County because Wood died there.

During Gray’s initial hearing prosecutors said police used Wood and Gray’s phones, video surveillance and cellphone towers to align and connect the sale of the fentanyl, according to an order detaining Gray in the county jail before his trial.

Wood bought the pills from Gray on Aug. 11, 2023, at a gas station in Volo, and the transaction was caught on surveillance video, deputies said. Evidence technicians then found pills inside Wood’s room that tested positive for fentanyl, they said.

Following the investigation Gray was arrested Jan. 10, 2024, at a gas station in Volo, police said.