Joliet Heroin Dealer Used Western General Store To Sell Drugs, Warns Her Buyers 'To Be Careful': Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — Joliet criminal defendant Kristina Marie Sholtes won't be coming home for the holidays now that Will County Judge Sherri Hale has imposed the SAFE-T Act's dangerous standard to keep the 34-year-old woman incarcerated at the Will County Jail.

Last week, Joliet police captured Sholtes and booked her into the county jail, where prosecutors have charged her with four crimes of unlawful manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.

According to the prosecution's successful petition to deny pretrial release for Sholtes, "in this case, the police report states that the defendant knew she was selling heroin to the officer and instructed him to 'be careful' with the narcotics, demonstrating that she understood the potential lethal consequences of the ingestion of heroin, which is even more likely given that the heroin was mixed with Fentanyl."

The Joliet Police Department's narcotics investigation against Sholtes lasted more than a year before the filing of the criminal charges took place last week.

According to the court papers, one of Joliet's undercover narcotics officers arranged for a heroin purchase from Sholtes at the Western Food and General store at 308 Western Avenue on Aug. 26, 2025, and gave her $60 for a baggie with brown powder. It later field-tested positive for heroin and fentanyl and had a lab weight of 0.1 grams.

"This transaction took place within 500 feet of Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park," prosecutors reminded Judge Hale.

The petition further indicates that on Sept. 18, 2025, the same officer arranged for another heroin purchase from Sholtes, this time at 412 South Ottawa Street in Joliet.

The officer met with her at the location and gave her $100 in exchange for a baggie of white powder, court files show. The powder was then tested by Illinois State Police and was positive for methamphetamine and weighed 0.7 grams.