A La Salle man is headed to prison for 6 years for his role in a drug den found in a La Salle neighborhood.

Kasie E. Saunders, 48, of 437 Maple St., La Salle (also listed in Decatur) was sentenced Friday to 3 years in prison plus a 3-year tack-on for heroin and/or fentanyl, after a July 7 drug raid of his La Salle residence.

Saunders Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. asked for probation plus drug treatment, arguing he once had 10 years clean time before abusing prescription painkillers — “I know that was the wrong thing to do, but I did it” — and insisting he wasn’t a drug dealer.

Ryan wouldn’t grant probation or court-supervised drug treatment and came down only a little from the state’s request for 8 years.

Assistant La Salle County State’s Attorney Jason Goode applauded the prison sentence, calling Saunders “a high-level” distributor.

“This is someone who kind of wrecked a neighborhood in La Salle,” Goode said.

The case against Saunders was aided by the fact two cohorts flipped and agreed to testify. Barbara A. King, 41, of La Salle, and Kaitlyn M. Forrest, 26, listed in La Salle and Spring Valley (and who did testify against Saunders at sentencing) both have Jan. 20 court dates. Goode said both satisfied their obligations and were likely to fetch probation.