Alex Banta
March 21, 2023 | By Muddy River News
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Todd Sheffler, 54, of Mendon, a former lieutenant at the Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, was sentenced Monday to 20 years of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release, for civil rights deprivation resulting in bodily injury and death and obstruction of justice in connection with…
Read Full Article March 17, 2023 | By Muddy River News
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Alex Banta, 31, of Quincy, a former correctional officer at the Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mt. Sterling, was sentenced Thursday to 20 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for civil rights deprivation resulting in bodily injury and death and obstruction of justice in connection with the…
Read Full Article August 24, 2022 | By David Adam, MRN Editor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A jury of six women and six men deliberated for about three hours on Tuesday afternoon before finding a former lieutenant at the Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling guilty on five counts in connection with the 2018 death of a 65-year-old inmate. Todd Sheffler, 54, of Mendon was stoic as…
Read Full Article April 25, 2022 | By David Adam, MRN Editor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — About 45 minutes after an eight-man, four-woman jury found a former corrections officer at the Western Illinois Correctional Center guilty of all five charges against him, two jurors were frustrated no decision was reached regarding the fate of a lieutenant at the same prison. “I don’t feel like we finished the job,”…
Read Full Article April 25, 2022 | By David Adam, MRN Editor
SPRINGFIELD — An eight-man, four-woman jury found one former prison guard at the Western Illinois Correctional Center guilty of all five charges in a trial that ended Monday, but the jury could not come to a decision on the fate of a second prison guard. Alex Banta, 30, of Quincy was found guilty of depriving…
Read Full Article April 22, 2022 | By David Adam, MRN Editor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller said the case against two prison guards at the Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling comes down to two facts. “They beat him up,” he said during closing arguments Friday afternoon in the U.S. District Courthouse in the Paul Findley Federal Building. “Then they lied to…
Read Full Article April 22, 2022 | By David Adam, MRN Editor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Closing arguments started Friday afternoon in the federal trial for two prison guards at the Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling. Two defense witnesses and a rebuttal witness for the prosecution were on the stand Friday morning at the U.S. District Courthouse. U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough then read jury instructions…
Read Full Article April 19, 2022 | By David Adam, MRN Editor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The jury in the federal trial for two prison guards at the Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling was sent home Tuesday morning because of “technical difficulties,” according to the chief deputy at the U.S. District Courthouse. During a brief status meeting on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough scheduled…
Read Full Article March 22, 2022 | By Muddy River News
MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — Jury selection for the trial of two former correctional guards charged in the 2018 death of an inmate in the Western Illinois Correctional Center will begin Wednesday. A status conference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long was held Tuesday afternoon to discuss procedures for jury selection for the jury trial…
Read Full Article April 03, 2025
FRANKIE AND THE KLITZ: APRIL 3 2025
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