Earl Scott Roark, June 16, 2015
WHITE CO., Ill. - White County had a problem defendant sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections Wednesday after a somewhat lengthy sentencing hearing.
The crim was Earl Scott Roark, 41, of Carmi, whose repeat antics have made him a familiar face in the pages of the print version.
White County State's Attorney Denton Aud advised that Roark was arrested on July 15, 2016. On August 24, 2016, Roark entered open pleas of guilty to a Class 3 felony offense of Possession of Methamphetamine and a Class 4 felony offense of Driving While License Revoked (4-9).
A Class 4 felony offense of Violation of Order of Protection and a Class 4 felony offense of Possession of Controlled Substance were dismissed in exchange for the open pleas of guilty.
Earl Scott Roark, May 10, 2016
Roark, Aud said, had also been allowed to enter substance abuse treatment pending sentencing with the incentive of an agreement that the State would ask for no more than 3 years DOC and the Court agreeing that it would be bound by that cap of 3 years at the sentencing hearing if Roark successfully completed the long term treatment. If Roark left treatment or was otherwise discharged successfully or unsuccessfully, he was ordered to immediately report to the White County Jail for sentencing.
After being unsuccessfully terminated and dismissed from treatment in late September, Roark failed to report back to the White County Jail in violation of the Court order. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was apprehended in Edwards County on December 1, 2016.
Roark was represented by Public Defender Brian Shinkle. Judge T. Scott Webb was the sentencing judge. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Judge Webb imposed the following sentences to run concurrently:
Earl Scott Roark, July 19, 2016
Possession of Methamphetamine, Class 3 felony
-7 years IDOC
-1 year MSR (mandatory supervised release, or parole)
Driving While License Revoked (4-9), Class 4 felony
-5 years DOC
-1 year MSR
The Carmi Police Department was the arresting agency.
Aud said Class 3 felonies typically have a sentencing range of 2-5 years unless the defendant is eligible for an extended term up to 10 years. Class 4 felonies have a standard sentencing range of 1-3 and an extended range up to 6 years. Roark qualified for an extended term based on his history and was sentenced accordingly. The Court also recommended that Roark receive drug treatment while in Illinois DOC custody.
"Mr. Roark sadly squandered a great rare opportunity to complete treatment and receive a shorter prison sentence for his efforts which would have hopefully had Roark pointed in the right direction while also ultimately saving Illinois taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in incarceration costs in a corrections system that is said to be overcrowded with inmates while our State continues to operate in fiscal disarray; instead, Roark's actions mean that he will now appropriately under the law and circumstances be serving an extended term of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections," Aud said. "I would like to commend the Carmi Police Department for their continued terrific professional work, as well as the continued great professional work by the Grayville Police Department who was responsible for apprehending Mr. Roark."