Two Face Federal Drug Charges After Streator Raid

STREATOR, Ill. — Around 6 a.m. on Sept. 23, a series of loud blasts broke the morning quiet on East Grant Street as FBI agents and officers in tactical gear surrounded a house in the 100 block. Streator police were also at the scene.

An armored truck stood on the front lawn, its ram extending through a front window. Officers carrying rifles took positions outside as a loudspeaker repeatedly announced that the FBI had an arrest warrant and ordered everyone inside to come out. “Come out the front door with your hands up and empty,” the voice instructed.

Jamal R. Cheers Jr. emerged with both hands raised and walked across the lawn toward the officers as the voice called, “Keep coming. Do not go back inside.” Natasha M. McCormick also came out of the house, as did several children.

An arrest warrant allows agents to enter a suspect’s own home to make the arrest. Whether a search warrant was also executed at the house is not reflected in the public court file.

Videos and photographs shared publicly captured the operation. By afternoon, a picture of the broken window was circulating on Facebook, where hundreds of comments offered questions and speculation about what had happened. A photograph taken from the street afterward shows two deep tire ruts running across the lawn toward the broken window. The window has since been boarded up.

A month later, federal court records show what the raid was about. McCormick and Cheers were arrested that morning under an eight-count indictment alleging a methamphetamine and cocaine conspiracy and charging Cheers with possessing six firearms as a felon.

The indictment was returned under seal eight days earlier in Peoria. Both pleaded not guilty at their arraignments that afternoon. Both are presumed innocent.

Cheers remains in federal custody. McCormick has been released on home detention at another Streator address, under electronic monitoring and an order prohibiting contact with Cheers.

Their public Facebook profiles list them as engaged.

Two defendants, eight counts

McCormick owns the East Grant Street house, according to La Salle County property records.

The indictment alleges that she and Cheers conspired, from approximately spring 2025 through August 2025, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of cocaine.

McCormick also faces two separate counts alleging cocaine distribution on March 25 and April 7, 2025.

Cheers faces separate charges alleging distribution of 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine on July 16 and Aug. 14, 2025, and distribution of crack cocaine on July 16.

Two additional counts accuse Cheers of possessing firearms as a convicted felon. Prosecutors allege he possessed two AR-15-style rifles and an HK MP5 rifle on Aug. 14, 2025, and another AR-15-style rifle, a shotgun and a 9 mm pistol on Oct. 7, 2025.

The indictment includes notice that the government will seek forfeiture of those six firearms and associated magazines and ammunition.

The alleged conduct predates the September raid by roughly a year. The indictment does not identify where the alleged drug distribution occurred, describe how it was carried out or mention the East Grant Street house.

One remains jailed; one has been released

Cheers initially agreed to remain detained while reserving the right to seek release later. The following day, he asked to be released to a relative’s custody.

After a Sept. 30 hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Hanna denied that request.

At that hearing, prosecutors presented four audio recordings and a video as exhibits, according to the docket; the defense submitted two letters. The contents of the recordings are not public.

In his written detention order, Hanna found that the weight of the evidence against Cheers was strong. The order also cited his criminal history, prior supervision violations, previous attempts to evade law enforcement and the finding that he was on supervision when the alleged offenses occurred.

The judge found that no release conditions would reasonably assure community safety or Cheers’ appearance in court. Those findings concern whether he should remain detained while the case proceeds; they do not determine his guilt.

McCormick’s detention hearing was continued to Oct. 13, when she was released to a different Streator address under home detention and electronic location monitoring.

Her order permits departures for specified purposes, including employment, medical care, attorney visits, court appearances and religious services, along with up to four approved hours each week. She may not leave the Northern District of Illinois without permission.

The order also prohibits contact with Cheers.

Three prior drug convictions

La Salle County court records show Cheers has three prior drug-delivery convictions, all resulting from guilty pleas.

In 2012, he pleaded guilty to a Class X charge involving delivery of 15 to 100 grams of cocaine. He was sentenced to seven years in state prison.

In February 2016, the Tri-DENT drug task force arrested him during what contemporaneous WGLC reporting described as a parole compliance check at his Streator residence. The task force reported finding approximately 35 grams of heroin.

Cheers pleaded guilty to a Class X heroin charge in May 2017 and received a sentence of nine and a half years. The judgment was affirmed on appeal in 2021.

His third drug case involved two alleged deliveries of a controlled substance in May 2021. Charges were filed that September. He pleaded guilty to one count in April 2023 and was sentenced that November to four years in prison, with 593 days of credit for time already served.

The federal indictment identifies the 2017 heroin conviction as a “serious drug felony” that prosecutors could use to seek an enhanced sentence through a separate filing.

Cheers also pleaded guilty this July to a misdemeanor charge of damaging property in Streator in November 2025. He received one year of conditional discharge, which was in effect when he was arrested on the federal charges.

A search of La Salle County court records found no criminal convictions for McCormick.

What happens next

The Standard found no public agency announcement explaining the operation and no local newspaper or radio report accounting for it.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for Nov. 5 before U.S. District Judge Jonathan E. Hawley in Peoria. A jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 23. The schedule remains subject to change.

The Standard will follow the case.

Sources: United States v. McCormick et al., No. 1:26-cr-10038, U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, including the indictment, detention and release orders, and docket; La Salle County Circuit Clerk records; La Salle County Supervisor of Assessments property records; WGLC reporting dated Feb. 4, 2016; and publicly shared Facebook posts, photographs and videos.

Photo credits: Operation images — publicly shared Facebook footage and photographs. House after the raid — The Streator Standard.