First the good news. Tyler was offered a plea deal that granted him time served and conditional release without probation. HE’S FREE! And we’re not surprised. Between Tyler’s clean record and the dubious nature of the vehicle search that led to the charges, it was only a matter of time before he was released. It’s an injustice and a shame that Tyler had to waste three months of his life and his activist career sitting in Woodford County Jail because his bail was set exorbitantly high by Judge Huschen—who also initially rejected Tyler’s plea, but was finally persuaded to accept it. We’re outraged that it happened, but so happy to have our friend back. Welcome home, Ty. (And speaking of home, Tyler is staying in Chicago with his attorneys right now, but will be back en route to L.A. in the next week.)
And now onto the bad news. Obviously Kevin is still not out. Prosecuting attorney Gregory Minger offered Kevin a plea deal of 24 months, which the defense team rejected. They returned with a counter-offer of 18 months, and the two sides eventually settled on 22 months. But Judge Huschen showed his true colors once again and rejected Kevin’s deal. This time he could not be convinced otherwise, and was overheard saying to the prosecutor that Kevin is “extendable.” This means that while the normal sentence for a Class 4 felony is one to three years, since Kevin has a criminal record related to his activism, the state can seek up to a six year sentence if he’s convicted at trial. In Illinois “good time” and time served count towards reducing the overall sentence. However, this would still mean roughly two and a half more years in a state prison.
Two and half years. For having tools.
We’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Repression is nothing new for the activist community, and is in fact on the rise lately. But is anyone else getting the distinct impression that our friend has a target on his back?
As soon as a trial date is set, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, stay free, stay strong, stay loud, stay committed, stay angry. And keep up the support for Kevin!
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Kevin Johnson #4565
Woodford County Jail
111 E Court St.
Eureka, IL 61530
