Pubdate: Fri, 05 Aug 2005
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2005sPeoria Journal Star
Contact:  http://pjstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338
Author: James Washburn, Copley News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n019/a08.html
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n132/a06.html

EX-PARAMEDIC MAKES PLEA DEAL

Husband Of Former Lincoln Officer Pleads Guilty To Making Drugs

LINCOLN - Former Logan County paramedic John Short - husband and 
co-defendant of former Lincoln Police Cpl. Diana Short - pleaded guilty 
Thursday to manufacturing drugs and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Just two days after his wife was charged with a thwarted conspiracy to 
manufacture methamphetamine to raise bond money for the jailed Lincoln 
couple, John Short appeared in court with his Springfield attorney Richard 
Frazier. He pleaded guilty to growing hallucinogenic mushroom spores and 25 
marijuana plants in the basement of their former home.

In a plea agreement with Logan County State's Attorney Tim Huyett, Short 
agreed to plead guilty to a Class II felony for growing the marijuana and a 
Class X felony for growing the psilocybin mushroom spores.

If convicted of controlled substance trafficking, Short, 41, faced 12 to 60 
years in prison.

By pleading guilty Thursday, Short received the minimum sentence of six 
years for the Class X manufacturing charge.

Huyett agreed to dismiss the remaining charges including: controlled 
substance trafficking, a Class X felony; unlawful manufacture of marijuana 
with the intent to deliver, a Class II felony; unlawful production of 
marijuana plants, a Class III felony; and a misdemeanor charge for 
possession of a firearm without a requisite firearm owner's identification 
card.

Also Thursday, Diana Short agreed to waive her right to a speedy trial and 
continue her case until September.

Her defense attorney, Fredrick Schlosser of Springfield, tried Thursday to 
withdraw from her case, claiming her indefinite incarceration prevents her 
from paying her legal fees.

Schlosser said he was hired to represent Diana Short while she was still 
released on bond and able to raise money.

Feeney denied Schlosser's motion to withdraw as counsel. He said it would 
be inappropriate to allow an attorney to withdraw "on the eve of trial" 
while the defendant is still in custody, especially because the conflict is 
financial rather than personal.

Illinois State troopers raided the Shorts' former Lincoln residence in the 
500 block of North Hamilton Street in December after a tip from an 
unidentified source.

According to Huyett, John Short told police that he was a "master gardener" 
and grew the marijuana for medicinal purposes. The mushrooms were 
discovered later after digital pictures on a hard drive of the couple's 
computer revealed the mushrooms spores on a time-stamped photo dated 
two-months prior to the raid.

Diana Short, 46, remains in jail on $250,000 bond.

The latest charges filed against her involving the meth conspiracy include: 
two counts of unlawful criminal drug conspiracy, one a Class X felony, the 
other a Class I felony; unlawful possession of methamphetamine 
manufacturing chemicals, a Class I felony; and solicitation, a Class II felony.

Short allegedly used a monitored jailhouse telephone to conspire with her 
24-year-old daughter, Brianna D. Strohl, also of Lincoln a plan to provide 
meth ingredients to a meth "cook" so Strohl could generate bond money.

Strohl also remains held in lieu of bond.
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MAP posted-by: Beth