News

Randolph County court updates

Posted April 11, 2017 11:00 pm

By Staff Report

People v. Ricky L. Ryder:

On March 20, 61-year-old Ricky L. Ryder, of Collinsville, pleaded guilty to the offense of aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, before Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Brown.

No agreement was reached as to the sentence, and the matter has been set for a sentencing hearing on May 8 at 1 p.m.

During the plea, Ryder admitted to placing his hands around the neck of a family/household member and choked the victim on December 23, 2016 in Steeleville.

"Mr. Ryder was on parole from the Department of Corrections and appears to have a significant criminal history," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "When you couple that with the nature of the offense, I certainly hope a sentence to corrections will be well received by the Court at the sentencing hearing."

The Steeleville Police Department handled the investigation in this matter, with assistance from the Randolph County Sheriff's Office.

Michael R. Recar:

On March 20, 21-year-old Michael R. Recar, of Marissa, pleaded guilty to the offense of unlawful possession of weapon by a felon before Judge Richard A. Brown.

No agreement was reached as to the sentence, and the matter has been set for a sentencing hearing on May 8 at 1 p.m.

During the plea, Recar admitted to possessing a shotgun and handgun in Sparta on November 10, 2016, after having been convicted of a felony.

A count of unlawful possession of another's credit card was dismissed pursuant to the plea.

"The possession of weapon by a felon charge carries a mandatory prison sentence of two to 10 years; therefore, we dismissed the credit card charge as it was probation-eligible," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "We will be arguing about the length of the sentence at the sentencing hearing, and I anticipate asking towards the top end due to the fact the defendant was on parole from IDOC when this offense occurred."

The Sparta Police Department handled the investigation in this matter.

Tiffany Y. Range:

On March 21, 26-year-old Tiffany R. Range, of Red Bud, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of criminal damage to property (Class A misdemeanor) before Judge Richard A. Brown.

Pursuit to the plea, the defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $350 and placed on court supervision for a period of one year.

The charge was amended from a Class 3 felony to the misdemeanor offense to facilitate the plea.

During the plea, Range admitted to damaging the property of another, with a value not in excess of $500, on June 27, 2016 in rural Red Bud.

"Ms. Range had no prior criminal history before this incident and the victim agreed to the reduction of charge," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "We will have a restitution hearing on May 18 to ascertain what restitution will be paid by the defendant to the victim."

The Randolph County Sheriff's Office handled the investigation in this matter.

People v. John C. Rickenberg:

On March 21, 21-year-old John C. Rickernberg, of Tilden, pleaded guilty to the offense of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (Class 4 felony) before Judge Richard A. Brown and was sentenced to two years of probation.

As a condition of the defendant's probation, he must enroll and complete any and all alcohol/substance abuse counseling as directed by the probation department, pay the court costs and a mandatory drug assessment fee.

During the plea, Rickenberg admitted to possessing less than 15 grams of diazepam located during a traffic stop on July 28, 2016 in Tilden.

"Mr. Rickenberg had a previous felony case reduced to a misdemeanor, but possessed no prior felony conviction," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "Based on that history, probation seemed an appropriate disposition and we hope Mr. Rickenberg completes the drug treatment component of his probation."

The Randolph County Sheriff's Office handled the investigation in this matter.

James E. Pape:

On March 27, 57-year-old James E. Pape, of Brookpark, Ohio, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of theft under $500 (Class A misdemeanor) before Judge Richard A. Brown.

Pursuant to the plea, Pape was sentenced to two years of court supervision, ordered to pay a fine of $350 and to pay restitution to the victim.

During the plea, the defendant admitted to obtaining money for a victim in Sparta, by deception, on April 30, 2014.

"This case revolved around a transaction on Ebay regarding an automobile," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "When the victim received the vehicle he purchased from the defendant, which had never been viewed in person by the victim, it was not in the same condition as advertised and possibly was a different vehicle altogether.

"The defendant had no prior history we could locate and we elected to have restitution ordered and reduce the case to a misdemeanor."

The Sparta Police Department handled the investigation in this matter.

Charleen E. Smith:

On March 28, 47-year-old Charleen E. Smith, of Tilden, pleaded guilty to the offense of driving while license revoked (Class 4 felony) before Judge Richard A. Brown.

No agreement was reached as to the sentence, and the matter has been set for a sentencing hearing on May 8 at 1 p.m.

The State agreed to dismiss a charge of possession of methamphetamine to facilitate the plea.

During the plea, Smith admitted to driving an automobile in Tilden on September 24, 2016 - at a time her driver's license was revoked because of a DUI - and after having been convicted on at least one prior occasion of the same offense.

"The meth charge was not a great case in that we did not have the meth on the person of the defendant and she denied she knew it was in the bedroom of her home," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "As her husband was indicted and is currently being prosecuted by the federal authorities on a meth related case, there could be some merit to the fact it was in fact her husband's.

"Therefore, we take the plea on the revoked charge and will ask for an appropriate sentence once we review her pre-sentence report."

The Randolph County Sheriff's Office handled the investigation in this matter.

Samantha N. Smith:

On March 29, 24-year-old Samantha N. Smith, of Lenzburg, pleaded guilty to the offense of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance (Class 3 felony) before Associate Circuit Court Judge Gene Gross.

No agreement was reached as to the sentence and the matter has been set for a sentencing hearing on May 4 at 1 p.m.

During the plea, Smith admitted to delivering less than a gram of heroin to confidential informant in Sparta on March 31, 2016.

The charge was amended from a Class 1 felony (over 1 gram) to the Class 3 felony (less than a gram).

"The lab report could only verify less than 1 gram of heroin; therefore, we could not proceed on the charge as alleged," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "I don't believe the defendant has a significant prior history and the likely outcome, based on the state of our current laws and judicial mindset, will be probation."

The Sparta Police Department handled the investigation in this matter.

Tracy L. Martin:

On March 29, 50-year-old Tracy L. Martin, of St. Louis, Mo., pleaded guilty to the offense of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (Class 3 felony) before Judge Richard A. Brown and was sentenced to two years of first offender probation, with conditions to seek drug treatment.

During the plea, Martin admitted to possessing less than 5 grams of methamphetamine located in a traffic stop in Sparta on September 22, 2016.

"Ms. Martin had no prior criminal history and seemed a perfect candidate for first offender probation," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "I hope she takes the treatment seriously, stays clean and takes advantage of the possibly of walking out of this situation without a felony convictions."

The Sparta Police Department handled the investigation in this matter.

Hallie J. Beattie:

On March 31, 38-year-old Hallie J. Beattie, of Sparta, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of deceptive practice (Class A misdemeanor) before Judge Richard A. Brown.

Pursuant to the plea, Beattie was ordered to pay a $350 fine and restitution to four local businesses whom received bad checks from the defendant.

Beattie admitted during the plea to passing bad checks between November and December 2016.  "Our first goal in these types of cases is to restitute the victims, which we accomplished in funds at the time of plea," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "Without a prior history, these types of cases do not scream for felony punishment, in my opinion."

The Randolph County State's Attorney Bad Check Program handled the investigation in this matter.

James J. Simunich:

On April 4, 23-year-old James J. Simunich, of Evansville, pleaded guilty to the offense of unlawful procurement of methamphetamine precursor before Judge Richard A. Brown.

Pursuant to the plea, Simunich was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, ordered to pay the court costs and a mandatory drug assessment fee.

During the plea, Simunich admitted to obtaining pseudoephedrine with the intent the same be used to manufacture methamphetamine in Sparta on December 20, 2016.

"Mr. Simunich had a prior meth-related offense he was on probation for at the time of the commission of this offense," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "Therefore, I did not consider probation to be an option.

"Hopefully, this time in corrections will allow Mr. Simunich time to consider what will happen if he does not get himself out of this drug culture."

The Sparta Police Department and Randolph County Sheriff's Office handled the investigation in this matter.

Joseph M. Johnson:

On April 4, this matter was dismissed on motion of the state's attorney, with the right to reinstate the case at a later date.

"This case was set for trial and we could not locate our victim," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "Without her, we could not have proven the case and were forced by her unwillingness to provide us accurate contact information to dismiss the case."

Alphonzo R. Travis:

On April 4, 23-year-old Alphonzo R. Travis, of Sparta, pleaded guilty to the offense of aggravated domestic battery (Class 2 felony) before Judge Richard A. Brown.

Pursuant to the plea, Travis was sentenced to two years of probation, with conditions to seek alcohol/substance abuse treatment, as well as anger management/mental health treatment.

A charge of unlawful possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver was dismissed, per the plea.

During the plea. Travis admitted to placing his hands around the neck of a family/household member, choking the victim, in Sparta on August 2, 2016.

"The victim was consulted and wanted the terms of the plea we imposed," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "She did not want to see the defendant go to jail, but to get help.

"We listened to her input and formulated a disposition based on her requests. The drug charge was better suited as a simple possession (Class 4 felony) as we had no evidence to prove it was for delivery, but certainly had cocaine in the possession of the defendant.

"As the domestic charge was more serious than the drug charge we could prove, we took the plea on the domestic incident."

The Sparta Police Department handled the investigation in this matter.

Riley M. Steenson:

On April 6, 19-year-old Riley M. Steenson, of Red Bud, pleaded guilty to the offense of burglary before Judge Richard A. Brown.

Pursuant to the plea, Steenson was sentenced to two years of probation, fined $900 and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.

As a condition of the defendant's probation, he must complete any and all alcohol/substance abuse treatment recommendations from the probation department.

During the plea, Steenson admitted to entering the building of another in Red Bud on November 28, 2016 with the intent to commit a theft.

The State, per the plea, dismissed two pending misdemeanor theft charges.

"Mr. Steenson had no prior felony convictions before this incident," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker. "Mr. Steenson will have the opportunity to vacate his felony conviction, if he can stay out of trouble and clean for two years.

"If not, burglary is a serious offense and the penalties certainly should go up if he gets in additional trouble, or violates his probation terms."

The Red Bud Police, with assistance from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, handled the investigation in this matter.

Lavonn U. Monroe:

On April 7, 46-year-old Lavonn U. Monroe, of Sparta, pleaded guilty to the offense of domestic battery (Class 4 felony) before Judge Richard A. Brown.

No agreement was reached as to the sentence and this matter was set for a sentencing hearing on May 25 at 1 p.m.

During the plea, Monroe admitted to causing bodily harm to a family/household member on February 27 in Sparta, after Monroe had previously been convicted of domestic battery.

"Mr. Monroe has a prior criminal history and I anticipate requesting a sentence to the Department of Corrections at the sentencing hearing," said Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker.

The Sparta Police Department handled the investigation in this matter.

Article Comments

Article Categories
Crime News