Father of metro-east city council member pleads guilty to federal drug charge
A Cahokia man has pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing illegal drugs with the intent to distribute, authorities said.
Courtney R. Hoffman, 65, entered a guilty plea on Sept. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, according to court records. Hoffman is the father of East St. Louis City Council member Courtney Hoffman II.
The younger Hoffman, who is also a longtime business owner in Washington Park, said he is often confused with his father and his father’s criminal history.
“I have been dealing with this all my life,” Hoffman II said. “I love my father, but the sins of the father are not the sins of his son. My mother always told me that I could have what my father has, but I can get it in a different way — the right and legal way.”
Federal agents began investigating the elder Hoffman’s drug trafficking activities in September 2023. Undercover agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, with help from a confidential informant, purchased cocaine and crack cocaine, according to a stipulation of facts in the court record.
On Sept. 28, 2023, agents attempted to serve a search warrant at Hoffman’s Cahokia Heights residence. Over a three-hour period, agents observed six different vehicles arrive to purchase drugs, according to court documents.
Police later conducted a traffic stop on Hoffman to inform him of the drug sales investigation and that they had a search warrant.
“I’m done with what y’all fixin’ to see. Y’all fixin’ to find something that you’re looking for,” Hoffman told agents, according to the stipulation of facts.
Agents recovered about 1 kilogram of cocaine and 140 grams of suspected crack cocaine in a plastic storage container in the closet of a basement bedroom, according to court records. An additional 60 grams of cocaine was found on top of the container.
Hoffman admitted to agents that he had purchased a kilogram of cocaine for $22,000 and that he “cooks up cocaine to make crack cocaine for distribution,” the stipulation stated.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 8 at the federal courthouse in Benton. Hoffman faces five to 40 years in prison, plus four years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Hoffman was represented by attorney Debra Moore. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel S. Carraway prosecuted the case.
This story was originally published September 22, 2025 at 5:17 PM.
