Off To Prison: Joliet Drug Dealer Tried Shooting 2 Sheriff's Deputies

JOLIET, IL — After living inside the Will County Jail for four years and three months, Richards Street cocaine dealer Kevin Waddell is now off to the Illinois Department of Corrections, after reaching a plea bargain with Will County prosecutors for shooting two Will County Sheriff's SWAT team members during a police raid.

Now 47 years old, Waddell pleaded guilty to the crime of aggravated battery with a gun; numerous other felonies, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder, were dismissed under the plea agreement. Waddell received a sentence of 14 years at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Waddell receives credit for time already served in the Will County Jail: 1,555 days. The remaining sentence will be served at 85 percent, according to Will County Judge Daniel Rippy.

"While police were executing a search warrant for drugs at the defendant's home, the defendant blindly shot through the back door the police were entering," reads the official statement of facts outlined by prosecutors. "One shot struck an officer in his vest. A second shot grazed the arm of the second victim. The defendant was taken into custody."

The Will County Sheriff's deputies and Joliet police recovered 10 grams of cocaine inside Waddell's home plus three loaded handguns and 128 additional rounds of ammunition. An unloaded shotgun was found in an abandoned room within the apartment house in the 200 block of Richards.

As for Waddell's co-defendant, Steven Johnson, under a plea bargain with the Will County State's Attorney's Office, Johnson was convicted in 2021 of unlawful possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver, unlawful use of a weapon by a convicted felon, and a third charge, unlawful use of a weapon by a convicted felon. Johnson was sentenced to nine years at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Johnson was given credit for the 861 days of being incarcerated in the Will County Jail from Oct. 18, 2018 until Feb. 22, 2021.

Illinois Department of Corrections records indicate that Johnson stayed in prison for almost a year. He was incarcerated from April 22, 2021, until being granted parole on March 3, 2022.

Back in 2018, Joliet Patch reported that Johnson had been inside one of the Richards Street bedrooms at the time. He later told Joliet Police that he "heard loud bangs" and "two gunshots."

"We have to go! The police are here!" Waddell yelled to Johnson.

Both men were captured in the front yard after they tried to run outside and get away, according to testimony. At the time of his capture, Waddell "asked if the officer was OK," prosecutors said.

According to sentencing reports, in 2010, Waddell was given a 96-month sentence in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute; he had prior convictions in Will County for unlawful use of a weapon and possession of controlled substances, dating back to 1993.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

$20M Bail In Shooting Of Will County Sheriff's Deputies

Shooting Of 2 Will Co. Deputies: Johnson Sentenced To Prison