Dwight man gets 8 years for selling heroin to woman who overdosed

A Dwight man was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison for selling heroin to a 19-year-old woman who died from an overdose in southwest suburban Wilmington.

Joseph P. Alksnis, 26, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of drug induced homicide and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office. Alksnis also pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to an undercover police officer, and received an additional 10-year sentence that will be served concurrently.

Heather Watson, of Braidwood, died of a heroin overdose in March 2013 outside an apartment complex in Wilmington.

After analyzing Watson’s cell phone, Wilmington police discovered she had been in contact with someone who lived in the complex, prosecutors said. An investigation revealed that Watson and the person who lived in the complex purchased heroin from Alksnis for $40 and later injected the drug together. Watson drove the person she bought the heroin with back to the apartment complex, where she was later found dead.

Alksnis is among 17 people the Will County state’s attorney’s office has charged with drug induced homicide since 2009.