Streator gunman gets 29 years in prison

The bullet missed the police officer. Courtney Perkins persuaded a jury that he wasn’t trying to kill him. Nevertheless, Perkins is going to prison for 29 years.

Perkins, 21, of Streator, was sentenced Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court for his role in a 2022 drug deal, in which a gun was fired.

Although a jury had rejected one count of attempted murder, Perkins was convicted of three felonies led by armed violence, a Class X felony carrying a 20-year minimum.

When offered a chance to address Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. before sentencing, Perkins politely declined.

A show of remorse was unlikely to have made much difference given Perkins’ complicated sentencing range. Although Ryan shaved a few years off the state’s recommendation of 36 years, Perkins nonetheless was subject to back-to-back prison terms on each of his three counts.

Perkins was charged after a Sept. 29, 2022, drug sting at a Streator car wash. There, Perkins had pre-arranged the sale of 20 ecstasy pills for $350. An accomplice, Alaina Cravatta, arrived at the scene to make the transfer.

When Cravatta passed the drugs, undercover agent Bernie Larsen announced, “Police! You’re under arrest,” and tried to place Cravatta into custody. (Cravatta pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge and accepted four years.)

Then, Larsen heard a shot fired.

“I looked immediately to where the sound of the gunfire came from,” Larsen testified at Perkins’ trial. “I saw a Black male subject standing 10 to 15 yards away pointing a pistol right at me.”

That suspect was Perkins, who fled the scene and later admitted to police that he fired the shot, but only to protect Cravatta from a man he couldn’t know was a cop.

A jury gave Perkins some benefit of the doubt but still convicted him of armed violence, aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

After making a last-ditch bid Thursday for a new trial, which Ryan quickly rejected, Chicago defense attorney Charles Snowden asked Ryan for a near-minimum sentence.

Snowden suggested no more than 27 years and said Perkins’ history showed a troubled youth with a drug problem but plenty of rehabilitative potential.

Snowden also disputed the notion that other individuals were placed at risk – noting “nobody was harmed in his incident” – and said the aggravating factors cited against Perkins were “putting a whole lot of smoke behind a little fire.”

But prosecutor Greg Sticka reminded the judge that Perkins put together the drug deal and arrived armed – adding that “it’s an inherently dangerous and threatening situation” – and did so while on felony probation for robbery in Jackson County.

“This defendant was a convicted felon at the time of the offense, was on probation and should not even have been in possession of a weapon,” Sticka said.

A projected parole date could not immediately be computed because the Jackson County case still is pending.

In reviewing Perkins’ personal history, Ryan said prosecutors there filed a petition to revoke Perkins’ probation, which may mean more prison time.

Perkins will appeal. Ryan granted him the services of the appellate defender.