SUPERVISED RELEASE OF MARION MAN REVOKED BASED ON NEW CHARGES

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 9, 2009, DONTE LAMAR STEWART, age 37, of Marion, Illinois, was found guilty of violating conditions of his supervised release in United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois at Benton, Illinois, and sentenced to serve an additional 29 months imprisonment, the maximum available sentence of incarceration.

According to the Petition to Revoke his supervision, STEWART had previously been convicted of Possession with intent to Distribute Cocaine in United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. He was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment on that case and then ordered to serve a term of supervised release following his imprisonment. His supervision was transferred to Southern Illinois when he moved to Marion.

One of the basic conditions of supervised release is that the defendant not violate any law. STEWART was charged in Saline County, Illinois, with the state of Illinois offenses of Unlawful Restraint, Domestic Battery and Criminal Damage to Property in relation to an incident which occurred on November 16, 2006, with his domestic partner. Evidence established that STEWART kicked open a locked door at the apartment in Harrisburg which he shared with his partner and assaulted her by beating and choking her and refusing to let her go. She was able to escape after she convinced him to let her up and then ran from the apartment. She received a concussion, numerous bruises and a torn ear drum as a result of the assault.

This case was investigated by the Harrisburg Illinois Police Department and the United States Probation office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael C. Carr.