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Siverly gets another seven years
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| A HEAVILY chained Robert Steven Siverly leaves the Edgar County Jail for the last time in August 2008. Siverly escaped from the jail in 2004 after going over the razor wire topped fence of the exercise yard. He was recently sentenced to seven years for the escape and that time starts after he completes a 22-year sentence for methamphetamine offenses. Paris Police Department Detective Terry Rogers tracked Siverly to Nevada in 2008, where U.S. Marshals arrested the wanted man on a fugitive warrant. Sheriff Tim Crippes, foreground, and Deputy Roger Hopper, behind Siverly, transported the convicted man to prison. (Beacon-News file photo) |
By GARY HENRY
Staff Writer
Robert Steven Siverly’s prison stay was extended during the June 19, 2009, felony pretrial session in Edgar County Circuit Court.
Siverly, 48, currently of the Stateville Correctional Center, appeared in custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections for a sentencing hearing on a Class 2 felony escape charge. He escaped from the Edgar County Jail in 2004 by going over the razor wire topped enclosure of the exercise yard, while awaiting trial on several methamphetamine related charges.
“What I did was wrong,” Siverly said during the June 19 hearing. “I wasn’t right in the head. Meth had taken control of my life.”
According to the defendant, he is using the mistakes of his life to mentor younger people on what not to do.
Siverly additionally said that after escaping, he quit using methamphetamine and was planning on returning to Edgar County to surrender when U.S. Marshals arrested him in Nevada on the escape charge.
The 2004 escape did not prevent the trial from going forward and Siverly was found guilty in absentia and sentenced, also in absentia, to 22 years. He was taken to prison to begin immediate service of the sentence after being returned to Illinois in August 2008.
“Escapes cannot be tolerated,” said Judge Steven L. Garst, adding prison is a necessary consequence of such a desperate act. “Anytime there is an escape, it threatens serious harm.”
Garst sentenced Siverly to seven years on the escape charge, with the time starting after the defendant completes the sentences in the methamphetamine cases.
Siverly, 48, currently of the Stateville Correctional Center, appeared in custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections for a sentencing hearing on a Class 2 felony escape charge. He escaped from the Edgar County Jail in 2004 by going over the razor wire topped enclosure of the exercise yard, while awaiting trial on several methamphetamine related charges.
“What I did was wrong,” Siverly said during the June 19 hearing. “I wasn’t right in the head. Meth had taken control of my life.”
According to the defendant, he is using the mistakes of his life to mentor younger people on what not to do.
Siverly additionally said that after escaping, he quit using methamphetamine and was planning on returning to Edgar County to surrender when U.S. Marshals arrested him in Nevada on the escape charge.
The 2004 escape did not prevent the trial from going forward and Siverly was found guilty in absentia and sentenced, also in absentia, to 22 years. He was taken to prison to begin immediate service of the sentence after being returned to Illinois in August 2008.
“Escapes cannot be tolerated,” said Judge Steven L. Garst, adding prison is a necessary consequence of such a desperate act. “Anytime there is an escape, it threatens serious harm.”
Garst sentenced Siverly to seven years on the escape charge, with the time starting after the defendant completes the sentences in the methamphetamine cases.
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Later Steve wrote on Jul 9, 2009 2:13 AM: