Valium / Diazepam News Blog

(GNS) - Two magazine salesmen suspected of burglarizing three Lincoln homes last week were arrested Wednesday night in Decatur.

U.S. marshals arrested Jessie A. Woodward, 19, of Durant, Okla., and Trenton H. Lemon, 19, of Goshen, Ind., on two counts of forgery and one count of misuse of a credit card above $300, both felonies.

Police say the men sold magazines door to door, entering three Lincoln homes April 18 and 19 and stealing credit cards and checks.

Lincoln police Detective Paul Adams said the men tried to cash checks at Logan County Bank and use a credit card through Western Union.

"The bank did an excellent job of checking into their IDs," Adams said.

- A suspect in Tuesday's credit union robbery has been turned over to the FBI, city police said Wednesday.

Police said they took Frank E. Carter, 28, of Streator into custody at about 8 a.m. Wednesday in the 1300 block of North Wasson Street.

FBI agents from Orland Park took custody of Carter at about 4 p.m., police said, and any other information in the case will be released by the FBI.

The Streator Onized Credit Union was robbed shortly before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police said a man came in wanting information about opening an account. He then wrote a note saying "This is a robbery" and passed it to a teller.

He did not display a weapon and left with an undetermined amount of cash.

- A Cook County man was jailed on a felony charge after he bear-hugged his girlfriend to keep her from running away from him, police said.

John Zimny, 21, of Glenview was charged Thursday with felony unlawful restraint and misdemeanor domestic battery. He was in the McDonough County Jail on $5,000 bond.

Police said an officer observed Zimny bear-hugging his girlfriend near West Adams and North Charles streets at about 1 a.m. Thursday. Zimny and his girlfriend fought, and he allegedly pushed her to the ground.

He was apparently trying to keep her from running back to the dormitories at Western Illinois University, police said.

The woman, whose name was not released, was not injured.

- Three Kewanee men were arrested Monday after allegedly delivering cocaine to police sources.

Jimmy A. Hollins, 42, Shawn Vaughn, 36, and Armando Ocampo, 23, were arrested after police said they delivered cocaine to an Illinois State Police informant on several occasions.

A search of Ocampo's home turned up 11 pounds of marijuana, police said.

All three face multiple drug charges and are being held in the Henry County Jail.

Bond for Hollins and Vaughn was set at $250,000 each, while Ocampo's bond is $350,000.

They are scheduled to appear in court in the coming days.

- A Bloomington man was sentenced Thursday to just shy of 12 years in federal prison for his part in making 35 images of child pornography.

Brandon D. Bennett, 24, was also sentenced to a lifetime term of supervised release which will begin after he finishes his 140-month sentence.

In November, Bennett waived indictment by a federal grand jury and pleaded guilty to production of child porn. Normally that charge carries a minimum of 15 years behind bars but Bennett cooperated with the government against two of his codefendants, Benny Joe Loveless Jr. and Crystal Ross.

In September 2004, Bennett, along with Loveless and Ross, engaged in sexual activity with a then 13-year-old girl, according to his plea agreement. Pictures were taken, and a compact disc with 35 images on it was distributed to several people.

Loveless was sentenced to 15 years for production. Ross got five years behind bars after pleading guilty to possession.

- Two Pekin men face charges for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into the Tazewell County Jail last month.

Eric J. Heaton, 31, of 230 Derby St. and Justin A. Meyer, 24, of 1412 Lake St. both report to serve jail time on weekends. During separate strip searches on March 16, correctional officers found bags of pills on each of them, according to Tazewell County court records.

Heaton allegedly tried to smuggle Diazepam, otherwise known as Valium, in a plastic bag in his jeans pocket. Meyer brought a plastic bag with Dihydrocodeinone, otherwise known as Hydrocodone, into the jail, court records stated.

Meyer admitted to smuggling the pills and said he planned to exchange them for food, according to court records.

Neither man had a valid prescription for the pills and each was charged with a Class 2 felony, bringing contraband into a penal institution. The charge is punishable by up to seven years in prison upon conviction.

- A Peoria man who was recently sentenced to federal probation for making bogus checks now faces new charges that he had child pornography on his computer.

Allen J. Turner, 24, of 1919 W. Ann St. appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court, where he was ordered held in custody of the U.S. marshals pending a bond hearing Monday.

A federal grand jury indicted him April 18 but that charge was sealed until he appeared in court. The charge contains little in the way of information other than he had the images.

On April 12, Tuner was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay nearly $55,000 in restitution on the charge of possessing a counterfeit check. Court records indicate that he and another man, Thomas Shelby, made counterfeit checks for the parent firm of Wendy's Restaurants and for DLM Trucking in Morton. In May and in October 2004, counterfeit checks were cashed in the area with the proceeds going to either Shelby or Turner.

Shelby, 47, of Peoria was sentenced earlier this year to five years in federal prison for bank fraud and possession of a counterfeit check. He, too, is facing new charges for allegedly lying to federal probation officers during his sentencing hearing in January.

- Police arrested a Peoria man Wednesday night at Stan's Wines & Spirits after a customer foiled the man's plan to steal liquor.

Justin W. Nott, 26, of 1129 W. Purtscher Drive was booked on charges of aggravated battery with a bottle, retail theft, criminal damage to property and resisting an officer.

About 8:30 p.m., Nott entered the liquor store, 1108 W. Glen Ave., and put two bottles of vodka down his pants, police said.

As Nott tried to leave, a customer stopped Nott, who struck the man on the head with one of the bottles, reports said.

A fight ensued between Nott and the customer, and the pair fell to the ground, breaking the second bottle of vodka inside Nott's pants.

The customer sustained a bump on his head, while Nott was cut from the shards of glass on his leg. Both refused medical attention.

- A 19-year-old Peoria woman walking Wednesday morning in the East Bluff was threatened with a gun.

The victim told police as she walked about 11 a.m. in the 900 block of East Nebraska Avenue she heard someone yell at her.

She turned around to see who it was and saw a black Oldsmobile stopped at Nebraska and Maryland Street. The male passenger was pointing a gun at her.

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