Man wanted for drug-induced homicide is indicted; overdose victim recalled for ‘good heart’

A man sought by authorities on a $500,000 warrant since 2022 was indicted last week in connection with the fatal fentanyl overdose of a Crystal Lake man nearly two years ago, court records show.

Rickiy Bell, 35, of Freeport, is charged with drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, according to the criminal complaint and indictment filed in McHenry County court. If convicted, Bell faces up to 30 years in prison.

Bell is accused of “knowingly and unlawfully” delivering a fatal dose of fentanyl to Charles “Charlie” Koberl at about 2 a.m. March 28, 2022, according to the criminal complaint and indictment.

Koberl was 62, according to an online obituary. His stepfather, Lawrence “Larry” Schuman, who Koberl lived with said Monday his stepson was “one of the most helpful guys” and “he had a good heart.” He was the person everybody in the neighborhood would call if they needed help moving something big or to help with their yardwork, Schuman said.

Schuman said he paid Koberl to help around the house and cook for him. The two men lived together since Koberl’s mother died in 2015. “He was a good cook,” Schuman said. “I’m sorry that he died.” Schuman added that he didn’t know about Koberl’s drug use and called him “very mellow.”

The night Koberl died, Schuman said, he had gone to bed and thought his stepson had too. When Schuman learned the next day that Koberl had died after going to a friend’s house and ingesting drugs, “I couldn’t believe it ... I was flabbergasted.”