Four arrested as 1 is sought

By Editor | October 8, 2014 |

A team of several law enforcement agencies that descended upon a residence in rural Beecher City last Wednesday for the arrest of one individual ended up taking four people into custody.
And more arrests are likely as an investigation in that case continues.

Felony methamphetamine charges are pending against Ricky T. Garner, 46, of Altamont, the target of the law enforcement initiative just inside the boundaries of Fayette County last week.
Fayette County Assistant State’s Attorney Amanda Ade-Harlow said officers with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police, U.S. Marshals Office and Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System SWAT team worked together in conducting the operation at about 7:30 a.m. last Wednesday.
Ade-Harlow said that while some officers in the group of about 40 surrounded the property of Brett and Linda Wood, others prepared to drive up the lane and apprehend Garner.
Alerted to the police presence, she said, Garner got in a truck and attempted to flee. He was taken into custody after he wrecked the truck, Ade-Harlow said.
And while authorities were at the Wood residence, they saw a man riding a motorcycle up the lane to the home, she said. That man, Clifford A. Miller, 44, of Cowden, hesitated upon seeing police, but then continued toward the residence at the officers’ direction.
Ade-Harlow said that when Miller arrived at the residence officers observed in his pocket aluminum foil pieces with what appeared to be methamphetamine residue.
She said that the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit was used to search both Garner and Miller, and that the search resulted in the discovery of about 80 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine.
The search of Miller resulted in the discovery of three bags containing what was believed to be methamphetamine.
The apprehension of Miller was not something that the officers expected to take place during the operation.
“We got lucky (that he drove up),” Ade-Harlow said.
Miller has been charged in information filed by the office of State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison with two counts of possession of 15-70 grams of methamphetamine.
The first count, which alleges that Miller possessed the meth with the intent to deliver, is a Class X felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000.
The second count alleges that Miller possessed the meth, and that he is eligible for an enhanced sentence due to the fact that he was convicted on a charge of meth manufacture in Shelby County in 2007.
Ordinarily, the sentencing range for the Class 1 felony possession charge is four to 15 years, the maximum enhanced sentence is 30 years.
His bond was set at $100,000.
A preliminary hearing on the prosecution’s motion for seizure of $1,665 that Miller possessed when arrested and his 2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was set for Wednesday in Fayette County Circuit Court.
While at the residence, authorities arrested Brett and Linda Wood on a preliminary charge of harboring a fugitive. Morrison’s office filed information on Thursday charging them with concealing a fugitive, a Class 4 felony punishable by up to three years in prison and/or a fine of up to $25,000.
Brett Wood was also arrested on charges of possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia, but the state’s attorney’s office is not pursuing charges on those offenses, Ade-Harlow said.
Bond was set at $15,000 for Brett Wood and $20,000, for Linda Wood, with her bond being higher because of her criminal history, Ade-Harlow said.
While the state’s attorney’s office is considering charges on Garner, he was taken into custody on an Illinois Department of Corrections warrant and on a Fayette County warrant for a felony charge of driving while his license is revoked.
Ade-Harlow said that that charge is a Class 3 felony offense for which Garner is not eligible for probation. She said that has been convicted nine times for that offense.
His criminal history also includes a Macon County conviction for possession of methamphetamine-manufacturing materials, for which he was given a seven-year prison sentence in 2002, and an Effingham County conviction for possession of methamphetamine precursors, for which he was given a 12-year sentence in 2006.
He was released on parole in November 2012 on that second offense.
Garner is currently being held at Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro.