TheRepublic.com - Benton News

Marion official pleads guilty to theft

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:20:06 -0400

BENTON, Illinois - The former manager of Marion's water department pleaded guilty to federal charges she stole more than $500,000 from the southern Illinois city.

Man accused in woman's shooting death in Benton

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:58:30 -0400

BENTON, Illinois - A southern Illinois man is jailed on $2 million bond after being accused in the shooting death of a woman outside a card shop in the Franklin County city of Benton.

Federal inmate facing escape charge in Illinois

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:56:09 -0400

BENTON, Illinois - A convicted Iowa bank robber serving a roughly six-year sentence at a federal prison camp in southern Illinois is accused of trying to escape.

Illinois inmate gets 2 more years on weapons count

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:40:14 -0400

BENTON, Illinois - A federal prison inmate already serving a 17-year sentence on Missouri drug and gun charges has been ordered to spend two more years behind bars for having a weapon in a southern Illinois lockup.

Gallows from Illinois' last public hanging found

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:34:16 -0400

ST. LOUIS - More than eight decades since bootlegging gangster Charlie Birger became Illinois' last person publicly hanged, the southern Illinois city that has clung to his legend finally has the case's biggest and most-elusive relic: the gallows from which he swung for his role in the killing of a nearby mayor.

SPOTLIGHT: Little boy joins elite police unit

Tue, 14 May 2013 06:50:19 -0400

BENTON, Illinois - A visit to a special police training exercise made Eli Levandowski-Gifford's day.

Man accused of stealing from Ill. school district

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:11:36 -0400

BENTON, Illinois - A former business official with the Carterville schools is facing 16 federal counts related to his alleged theft of funds from the southern Illinois school district.

Bridgeport mayor admits defrauding his town

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:51:06 -0400

ST. LOUIS - A rural southeastern Illinois town's newly elected mayor said Thursday his predecessor's guilty pleas to federal charges of using bogus invoices to skim money from the community means it finally can move on, even if the exact cost to local coffers remains publicly elusive.