Beccue: 30 years for murder

Two months after being found guilty of second-degree murder, Alexander Beccue was given the maximum sentence – 30 years.
Beccue, 26, was also given a 10-year sentence for his conviction on a charge of unlawful use or possession of a weapon by a felon, a sentence that will be served concurrently with the one given for second-degree murder.
At the completion of a five-day trial in June, a Fayette County jury deliberated only about two hours before returning a verdict of guilty on a lesser-included charge of second-degree murder, instead of first-degree murder of which he had been charged.
Beccue, of rural St. Peter, was convicted for fatally shooting Joshua K. Smith after midnight on Aug. 11, 2017, at a Ramsey residence.
Under Illinois law, second-degree murder is a special Class 1 felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Because of a prior felony conviction, Beccue could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Unlawful use or possession of a weapon by a felon is a Class 3 felony carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison, or 10 years for those eligible for extended terms.
Fayette County Resident Circuit Judge Don Sheafor handed down that sentence at the conclusion of a three-hour sentence on Wednesday morning that included a statement of allocution by Beccue.
The sentence also included impact statements from family and friends of Smith, and testimony from Beccue’s mother and grandmother.
“Obviously,” Sheafor said, “you killed a person. I cannot fathom that and I think maybe even you can’t fathom that.
“It was such a senseless, sensless act,” the judge said.
Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison asked for the maximum punishment, as was given by Sheafor. Beccue’s attorney, Ed  Deters of Effingham.
In making his recommendation, Deters said, “I don’t like giving a number. Alex knows that it will probably be in double digits.” He asked for the “lower end of double digits.”
Impact statements from prosecution witnesses, he said, showed that Smith was loved. “I’ve never heard impassioned pleas (for a stiff sentence) like this before.”
Sheafor said that the murder happened as a result of “the lifestyle you were leading up to that.”
He said that while talking about the seriousness of the methamphetamine problem in this and other counties, and how it causes other serious problems in society.
Among those giving an impact statement was James Cohan, Smith’s uncle.
“You can’t put into words what that man there has done to my family,” Cohan said.
“You are a cold-blooded murdered,” Cohan said. “You killed him for no reason at all.
“You showed no respect, no remorse” during the June trial, he said.
In his statement of allocution, Beccue said, “I am truly sorry for what I’ve done.
“I considered Josh a friend,” he said. “That night, I was on drugs, paranoid and out of my mind.
“I am so regrettably sorry.”
More on the sentencing hearing will be in next week’s issue of The Leader-Union.