Railroad Days shooter gets prison sentence

A plea deal was reached and a two-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections was given to a Galesburg man for firing a handgun into the air during Railroad Days last year. 

18-year-old Latrell A. Patterson appeared in Knox County Circuit Court on Thursday where Judge Paul Mangieri who issued the sentencing and credited Patterson with 227 days served.

As part of the deal, Patterson pleaded guilty to one felony charge of Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapon while all other charges against him were dropped.

A fight broke out Saturday, June 23rd, which led to Patterson retrieving a gun from a vehicle and firing it into the air. There were no injuries reported from the gunshots.

In November, a plea deal had been reached but was rejected by Judge Scott Shipplett due to the prison sentencing being too low.