Probation revoked for Ill. man charged with drug offenses

Circuit Judge Benjamin F. Lewis decided to revoke probation and impose a seven-year prison sentence on Wendell E. Woodson following a short hearing Friday morning at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson.

Woodson, 30, of Tamms, Ill., faces drug charges in Alexander County, Ill., but a scheduled jury trial was postponed after Francis "Ray" Beauchamp, a witness in the case, died March 31.

Beauchamp, 58, was slain in his Mill Creek home in Union County on the eve of the trial, and Alexander County authorities agreed to postpone the case against Woodson until further investigation could be completed.

Woodson faces charges on suspicion of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in Southern Illinois.

In Cape Girardeau County, Woodson was on probation since pleading guilty in March 2004 to charges of possession of a controlled substance except 35 grams or less of marijuana.

He received a suspended imposition of sentence of five years in prison and five years of supervised probation.

The Illinois drug charges pending against Woodson are grounds for revocation of that probation, meaning he would be required to serve the suspended part of his sentence immediately.

At the hearing, John Barr, an Illinois narcotics investigator, testified for the state that he made a controlled buy of crack cocaine and marijuana from Woodson in 2006.

Barr also said that as late as April of this year, a confidential informant for the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department dropped Woodson's name during a conversation about people who sold both crack cocaine and marijuana.

Pat McMenamin, attorney for Woodson, attempted to elicit testimony alleging that Barr perjured himself at a preliminary hearing for another individual facing drug charges, to impeach Barr's credibility.

At the hearing, he admitted he'd never purchased pills from the defendant but obtained a search warrant based on a statement to the contrary.

Woodson, a history student at Southern Illinois University, took the stand and said he was approached several months ago by an Illinois narcotics agent who pulled him over and tried to talk him into becoming an informant.

"He said it was my last chance to help myself," Woodson said.

The officer told him he would make the drug charges disappear if Woodson cooperated.

Under cross-examination by assistant prosecutor Angel Woodruff, Woodson said he knew Beauchamp and that the older man used to peddle drugs in his neighborhood years ago.

He also admitted that Beauchamp testified in a drug trial against his girlfriend, and she was convicted of those charges.

Woodruff asked the court to impose a seven-year sentence because of the nature of the violation.

"When someone is on probation for possession of a controlled substance, and they possess or sell a narcotic, I'd say that is probably the worst violation you could have," Woodruff said.

McMenamin argued that the court should allow Woodson a fair trial in Illinois on the drug charges and determine his guilt or innocence before revoking his probation.

Lewis ruled that the state's witness and evidence was credible, and would be sufficient evidence to convict Woodson of the drug charges, therefore, enough to constitute a clear probation violation.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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