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 […]
Larry Earvin
‘I don’t feel like we finished the job’: Jury finds Banta guilty in Mount Sterling prison beating death, can’t reach unanimous decision on Sheffler
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,” […]
Case against two prison guards from Western Illinois Correctional Center now in jury’s hands
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 […]
Trial for Mount Sterling prison guards in 2018 fatal inmate beating delayed until Friday
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 […]
Jury selection begins Wednesday in trial of former correctional guards charged with 2018 death of inmate in Mount Sterling prison
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 […]
