Darien Woman Arrested In Undercover Heroin Sting: DuPage Sheriff

Caption: Melinda Rozell, 43, of Darien. | DuPage County Sheriff

A Darien woman is facing felony charges after she allegedly sold heroin to an undercover cop on eight different occasions over the past three months.

Melinda Rozell, 43, was arrested this week for unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. Rozell has since been charged with three counts of manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, which are Class X felonies.

The DuPage County Sheriff’s Office Tactical Narcotics Team received information from a confidential source of heroin sales in the Downers Grove and Darien area. The team began an investigation in May, which ended in Rozell’s arrest.

Spokesman Paul Darrah, from the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office, said that a sheriff’s deputy was introduced to Rozell through a confidential source, according to allegations made during Rozell’s bond hearing on Wednesday.

The undercover deputy began purchasing heroin from Rozell, which included eight separate buys in June, July and August. The largest of those purchases was 40 grams of heroin, court records claim.

Two of the undercover heroin purchases were allegedly made within 1,000 feet of the baseball field at Hinsdale Central High School.

“This arrest further proves that Heroin is not just an inner-city problem, and that heroin dealers can come from any community,” Zaruba said. “My office will remain diligent in stopping the influx of heroin distribution within DuPage County.”

Rozell is being held at DuPage County Jail where bail has been set at $200,000. Her next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22.