Earlville man facing gun, drug charges released

An Earlville man charged as an armed habitual criminal was released from custody with conditions.

Travis A. Billups, 35, appeared for a detention hearing Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court after being picked up on a La Salle County warrant. Being an armed habitual criminal is a Class X felony carrying six to 30 years in prison with no possibility of probation.

During the detention hearing, prosecutor Greg Sticka said Billups’ fingerprint was found on the trigger of a 9-mm pistol that he, as a repeat felon, was prohibited from possessing.

The loaded gun was seized during a May 15 traffic stop in La Salle, during which Billups was a passenger, Sticka said, although it was recovered in a backpack found inside the glove compartment across from where Billups was seated. Inside the backpack also was an inhaler similar to one police saw Billups use during the traffic stop.

Sticka said Billups previously was convicted of aggravated domestic battery as well as two separate offenses of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, which made him eligible for the charge of being an armed habitual criminal.

More charges could be on the way. Sticka said additional contraband seized from the traffic stop was sent to a crime lab for forensic testing.

“This combination of offenses poses a unique threat to the public,” Sticka said in urging the judge to order that Billups be held in the La Salle County Jail.

In response, Public Defender Ryan Hamer said 35 days elapsed between the traffic stop and the hearing, yet Billups didn’t try to flee the jurisdiction despite a reasonable belief that he would be charged.

“He didn’t try to run,” Hamer said. “What he did was he went back to work. Despite the likelihood something was coming down, he remained here.”

Hamer further noted that there was no evidence the gun was fired, brandished or pointed at anyone.

That seemed to persuade the judge, who agreed to house arrest with GPS monitoring as well as drug and alcohol testing.

“If he fails any of these requirements,” the judge warned, “then I have no alternative to find that he has to be in custody.”

Billups will next appear July 11 for arraignment.