Suspect in fatal McHenry Co. heroin overdose denies charge

A 33-year-old man accused of supplying heroin to an Algonquin resident who later suffered a fatal overdose formally denied allegations Wednesday that could put him behind bars for up to 30 years.

James R. Jurkowski, of the 2100 block of Glacier Court in Algonquin, asked for a jury trial on a charge of drug-induced homicide stemming from the Jan. 12 death of Mark A. Gouge.

Gouge, 37, was found unresponsive that night in a car parked outside an Algonquin bar. He was pronounced dead at Sherman Hospital in Elgin.

The charge, a Class X felony, claims Jurkowski sold Gouge the drugs that killed him.

Jurkowski already is in the Illinois Department of Corrections, serving a two-year sentence on a pair of felony retail theft charges out of Kane County.

However, a judge ordered Wednesday that he be held in the McHenry County jail while the drug-related charge is pending. He is scheduled to return to court June 17 for a pretrial status hearing.