Downtown St. Charles pharmacist indicted

A prominent pharmacist whose family drugstore was a mainstay of downtown St. Charles for decades has been indicted on charges he illegally obtained and sold prescription medications, authorities announced Monday.

Mark L. Burger, 41, of the 1400 block of Melbourne Street, Elburn, was indicted by a Kane County grand jury Friday on multiple felony counts of unlawfully acquiring, possessing and delivering controlled substances. He surrendered to Illinois State Police at the St. Charles Police Department Monday morning and was released on a $10,000 bond.

A former chief pharmacist at Burger Drugs, Burger is accused of dealing pharmaceuticals containing methadone, an opiate commonly used to treat heroin addiction, and the opiate painkiller hydrocodone between January 2006 and last April. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

Earlier this year, the Illinois State Police North Central Narcotics Task Force seized large amounts of prescriptions drugs from Burger's home near Blackberry Creek Elementary School and his family's pharmacy, 9 E. Main St., according to court filings.

In June, Burger agreed to have his pharmacy license indefinitely suspended because of the investigation. The pharmacy closed in July after 70 years in business, but the owner, Burger's father, said then it had nothing to do with his son.

Burger is due in court Jan. 7. His attorney, Gary Johnson, declined to comment Monday.