Aurora heroin dealer gets 10 years in prison

A man has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for selling heroin in west suburban Aurora.

Michael E. James, 30, was convicted in February of delivery of a controlled substance for selling heroin four times in 2013, according to a statement from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.

James, of the 1500 block of Michael Lane in Aurora, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 1/2 years in prison, the state’s attorney’s office said. He was given credit for at least 610 days spent in the Kane County Jail, where he was held on a $100,000 bond since his arrest.

The total amount of heroin he sold was about four grams, prosecutors said.

“Heroin overdoses continue at alarming numbers in the Chicago area and across the nation,” State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said in the statement. “These prison sentences for heroin dealers are an important part of the process to get heroin out of our communities.”