SALINE CO.— A Golconda convicted meth felon faces felonies in two separate cases in Saline County.
Details filed in the case allege that on May 10, 2017, Dallas Joseph Allen Clifton, 20, of Rte. 1, Box 177, Golconda or 2000 Organ St., Eldorado, depending on which official document you look at, committed the offense of Burglary when, without authority, he entered a 2002 Chevrolet Blazer, located at 275 Gibbons Rd., Harrisburg.
He is also charged with felony Theft after police say he then made off with a 14kt gold diamond ring belonging to Eugene R. Hughes.
Victim’s criminal history… Meth connection?
Eugene R. Hughes, 55, of 75 Gibbons Rd., Harrisburg, has something of a criminal history himself, including a 2000 arrest on two counts of Aggravated Battery of a Peace Officer.
Those charges were ultimately dismissed.
Hughes was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) for five years following a conviction April 23, 1999, for Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
He was also ordered to pay $2,376 in fines and fees.
Court documents indicate Hughes was sentenced to the IDOC for 14 years following a January 24, 2002 conviction for Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Chemicals, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (prescription medication) and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
What he was doing back on the street in 2012 – typo or prison math – is anybody’s guess.
Hughes was taken into custody August 27, 2012 and charged with Unlawful Manufacture of Methamphetamine, Unlawful Possession of Anhydrous Ammonia with Intent to Manufacture Methamphetamine, Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Materials, Possession of Anhydrous Ammonia in an Unauthorized Container and Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Precursors.
He pleaded guilty December 18, 2012 to the container and manufacturing charges in return for the remainder of the charges being dismissed and a sentence of probation for 30 months and $15,362.24 in fines and fees.
Drug charges in a separate case, including Unlawful Possession of Anhydrous Ammonia, Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Precursors and Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Materials were dismissed on October 22, 2014.
Clifton nabbed
When Clifton was taken into custody in early August police say they found on his person more than a few drug items including less than five grams of meth, the prescription medication clonazepam without a prescription and one glass meth smoking pipe with residue, two straws with residue and three syringes with residue.
In addition to the burglary and theft charges involving Mr. Hughes, Clifton was formally booked on charges of Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine, Unlawful Possession of Controlled Substance and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
It is not clear if Clifton’s drug stash and accouterments had anything to do with Mr. Hughes or not.
Clifton’s Saline County criminal history includes a June 6, 2017 conviction for Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine, which earned him a sentence of probation for 24 months (which his latest arrest violates) and $4,842 in fines and fees, of which he hasn’t paid the first dime.
Cash bond in Clifton’s latest case was set at $3,500.