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Former GPD Officer Sentenced to Jail, Drug Treatment
The former Galesburg Police officer accused of stealing drugs from an evidence locker and using them, all while claiming they were for educational purposes, has apologized for what he has done.

50-year old David Hendricks made that apology during a sentencing hearing Thursday in Knox County Circuit Court. Hendricks pleaded guilty last month to felony charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Official Misconduct. Hendricks was arrested almost a year and a half ago, after being confronted in September 2006 about the missing drugs by superiors in the Galesburg Police Department.

Hendricks' attorney Gerald Brady, in asking Knox County Circuit Court Judge Steven Bordner for a lenient sentence that included probation handled through the Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities Program, or TASC, argued that his client has taken two years of responsibility for what he's done, and that Hendricks, "is shamed."

Special Prosecutor Ed Parkinson, however, argued for prison time in order to send a message, and because he believes Hendricks put the community in danger by taking the drugs out of the evidence locker and taking it home, where it might end up in someone else's hands.

Bordner disagreed with how much danger he thought the community would be in, but said that some form of incarceration was necessary, and that he wouldn't be doing his job otherwise.

A number of people testified at the hearing, including Hendricks' sponsor in Alcoholic Anonymous, and Hendricks' son, who said after years of a sort of estrangement from his father, they've grown close once again.

Bordner sentenced Hendricks to 180 days in the Knox Council Jail, TASC probation for at least 30 months, random drug testing, a $1,500 fine, and other fees. Plus, Bordner says Hendricks must move back to the State of Illinois.

It was learned during the hearing that Hendricks may not be able to receive his police pension if he's a convicted felon; but if TASC probation is proven successful, he can ask the court to have the conviction stricken from his already clean criminal record, which could also have an effect on whether or not Hendricks receives a pension.
11 06 08 by Newsroom
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