Heroin Support Group Advocate Arrested for Dealing

Peter Rundo, co-founder of Open Hearts/Open Minds, allegedly sold drugs to undercover officers

A Chicago-area man who helped found a heroin-abuse support group faces felony charges after allegedly selling heroin to undercover police.

Peter K. Rundo, 21, who lives near the Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve near west suburban Naperville, was ordered held on a $50,000 bond after being charged with two felony counts of manufacture or delivery of heroin, according to records on file in Will County Circuit Court.

Officials said they received word a little more than a month ago that Rundo was buying heroin in Chicago and selling it in Naperville. John Arizzi, the deputy director of the Joliet Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, said undercover investigators made contact with Rundo and arranged to buy the drug from him in "controlled purchases."

Rundo allegedly met undercover officers three times in Naperville, with the third and final sale occurring about 8 p.m. Sept. 16 near a service station near 95th Street and Book Road.

Arizzi said Rundo drove to the area in a silver, 2000 BMW and offered no resistance when taken into custody.

The heroin, allegedly delivered each time in small, foil packets, totaled six grams, Arizzi said.

Rundo in July 2012 was convicted in DuPage County of driving under the influence of narcotics, following an arrest in Naperville.

He and two friends in recent years helped found the Open Hearts/Open Minds heroin-abuse support group. Rundo also was interviewed for and appeared in a segment of the national TV program "48 Hours" on heroin abuse.

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