Suspect in South Carolina church shooting facing federal charges, including hate crimes

Twenty-one-year-old Dylann Roof, the suspected shooter in the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church killings in Charleston, SC, was scheduled to be arraigned last Monday, June 20 on new charges of obstructing the practice of religion, hate crimes, and firearms violations five weeks after the tragic killings of nine people. It has been reported that Roof wants to enter a...

Criminal Defense

July 7th, 2015

Mattoon woman violates three-year probation in car theft case

Illinois resident Abby Mingus, 32, was re-sentenced to 3 ½ years of imprisonment after violating her three year probation for stealing a vehicle in January 2014, the Journal Gazette and Times-Courier reported on June 15. Her sentence included a provision that required her to attend a treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities program. However, Mingus was charged with retail theft for...

Criminal Defense

June 17th, 2015

Defense attorney Tony Bruno avoids jail time for client

Attorney Tony Bruno recently represented a Champaign resident who was accused of recording a teenage girl without permission, according to a June 17 article in The News-Gazette. The accused pleaded guilty to unauthorized video recording. Although the Assistant State Attorney argued for a jail term of three years, Bruno managed to reduce the sentence to home...

Criminal Defense

May 28th, 2015

Tom Bruno eliminates six of seven charges with plea agreement for client

Daniel Beckwitt was facing seven criminal charges in 2013, to which he originally pleaded not guilty. Six of those charges were eventually dropped after attorney Tom Bruno arranged a plea agreement with Assistant State’s Attorney Matt Banach. In the end, Beckwitt pleaded guilty to a single count of computer fraud, a Class 3 felony. As...

Criminal Defense

April 8th, 2015

Urbana implements new procedure to catch drug dealers

The Urbana Police Division in Illinois has begun sending out patrol officers to make raids on drug tips rather than just its detectives, the Springfield News-Sun reported on April 3. For instance, police officers raided the house of Urbana locals Steven Inskeep, 57, and Sonda Shafer, 48, wherein they found 20 marijuana plants. Additionally, their...

Criminal Defense

March 23rd, 2015

Champaign man pleads guilty to aggravated robbery, receives 15 years

Forty-two-year-old Champaign County resident Terry Leece was sentenced to 15 years in prison on March 9 by Coles County Circuit Judge Teresa Righter after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and attempted aggravated robbery, the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier reported. Leece, who lives in St. Joseph, robbed a Walgreens and attempted to rob a CVS Pharmacy...

Criminal Defense

January 14th, 2015

Hoopeston man arrested for cannabis possession

Thirty-four-year-old Hoopeston, Illinois resident Kareem Marshall is currently detained at the Champaign County Jail with a $10,000 bond after being arrested for charges of felony unlawful possession with intent to deliver cannabis, The News-Gazette reported on December 31. A police report showed that Marshall, holding a duffel bag, asked the clerk on duty at the front...

Criminal Defense

November 26th, 2014

Pair charged with drugs and gun crimes after traffic stop

Twenty-six-year-old New Memphis in Clinton County, Illinois resident Leross Cooks and 26-year-old Rantoul in Champaign County local James Wesley Guy were arrested by Urbana police on November 18 after a traffic violation stop resulted in more serious findings, The News-Gazette reported. Urbana police Sergeant Dan Morgan said a police officer pulled the suspects’ car over in the 1200...

Criminal Defense

November 17th, 2014

Champaign man charged with drug crimes

Twenty-nine-year-old Champaign resident Harvey Blakely was charged in the Champaign County Circuit Court with unlawful possession with intent to deliver heroin and cocaine, both of which are Class 1 felonies, after being arrested on Saturday, October 25 and assigned a $500,000 bond, The News-Gazette reported. Blakely was arrested after a shooting occurred outside the house where...

Criminal Defense

October 17th, 2014

Feds bust extensive drug trafficking network

The United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Illinois said in a statement that 22 suspects of a major drug trafficking network stretching from Mexico to six U.S. states had been taken under police custody, with 14 of them arrested in Chicago, California, Iowa, and Pennsylvania this week, an Associated Press article reported. The suspects were...

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