Two months shy of his 16th birthday, Johnny Dudek was excited about getting his driver’s license and his grandmother’s white Grand Am when his family found the Bartlett boy unresponsive in his bedroom.
His July 10, 2013, death of a heroin overdose came during a lethal month in DuPage County in which 11 people fatally overdosed from the drug in a 21/2-week period. Johnny was the youngest victim.
On Friday, the man who supplied the heroin was sentenced to eight years in prison. Nolan McMahon, 20, of Hanover Park, received the sentence as part of a deal with DuPage County prosecutors after he pleaded guilty to drug-induced homicide.
He faced six to 30 years in prison without the plea deal.
Prosecutors said McMahon twice sold heroin to Johnny in the hours before his death. Police identified McMahon through text messages to Johnny and witnesses who saw the defendant packaging heroin before selling it to the teen, authorities said.
They said detectives also worked with a confidential informant to buy heroin from McMahon. A search of his home yielded additional drugs, police said.
Ruth Dudek described her son as a “fun-loving, sweet and respectful” kid who loved to ride his skateboard, play baseball and hang out with his friends. She said the realization Johnny had tried heroin came as a shock to her and her husband, Richard, both of whom have spoken out publicly since their son’s death to warn other parents about the drug’s availability on suburban streets and schools.
Dudek said she has sat in the Wheaton courtroom gallery about a dozen times since McMahon’s August 2013 arrest to seek justice for her son. When McMahon admitted his guilt Friday, Dudek said, she wasn’t told beforehand and was not present. She had hoped to read the victim impact statement she prepared.
In it, Dudek described heroin’s emotional toll on her family. She said she and her husband plan to sell their Bartlett home because it’s too painful to remain there. Eighteen months after her son’s death, Dudek said, she still expects to see him walk through the front door and say, “What’s up, Mom!”
“I came to court to represent not only my son, but all of the lives affected by heroin,” the mother said in her statement, which she provided to the Tribune. “My heart broke and my life was taken away the day my son died. I will never be able to hug and kiss him like I did every day and I will miss him each and every day for the rest of my life.”
McMahon must serve 75 percent of the prison term before being eligible for parole. In the plea deal, before DuPage Circuit Judge Liam Brennan, McMahon also received 534 days credit for the time he has served in jail while awaiting trial.
Twitter @christygutowsk1
