Mt. Sterling contractor gets suspended sentence in prison smuggling case – WLDS

A Mt. Sterling man under contract to the Western Illinois Correctional Facility was sentenced to probation for allegedly smuggling drugs and a cellphone into the prison on Wednesday.

Muddy River News reports that 49-year-old Joshua D. Havens was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and three years of probation. The prison term was suspended pending successful completion of probation. The prison term could be reduced if Havens violates the terms of probation. Havens was also ordered to pay an undisclosed fine to the county.

Havens pleaded guilty to one count of allowing an employee to illegally bring contraband into a penal institution, a Class X felony. As part of the plea agreement, two related charges were dropped, as well as one count of manufacturing and distributing a suspected substance with intent to traffic, a Class 3 felony. According to the indictment, Havens attempted to bring 100 pills that looked like a controlled substance but were not into the prison.

Illinois State Police arrested Havens, who previously worked as a carpenter at the prison, on February 21^st as part of an investigation into reports of contraband being brought into the prison. Havens resigned from his contract on March 1, according to a report in the Journal Courier.^st after his arrest. Havens was not formally charged until April 26. The charges stem from incidents that occurred on November 30, 2023.