Man gets 14 years on lesser charge in Dongola, Ill., killing

JONESBORO, Ill. -- A man originally charged with murder in the October death of a Southern Illinois man will spend the next 14 years in prison on a lesser charge.

A Union County judge imposed that sentence Tuesday on Tommy Reams after the Dowell man pleaded guilty to a charge of home invasion.

Authorities had said Reams and 26-year-old Michael Ellis of Elkville, Ill., bound 57-year-old Gerald Dziczkowski with duct tape and cords before the victim was beaten and kicked at his rural Dongola home. But an autopsy found Dziczkowski may have died of a heroin overdose.

Ellis pleaded guilty last week to home invasion and also is serving a 14-year sentence.