Streator man gets 5-year prison sentence in nonfatal shooting

A Streator man pleaded guilty Thursday to a 2023 shooting and was sentenced to 5½ years in prison.

Alex J. Brown, 26, appeared Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court, where attorneys announced a negotiated plea.

Prosecutors dismissed a charge of aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony carrying up to 30 years in prison, and instead presented a lesser charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony carrying up to 15 years.

The resulting prison term is subject to the state Truth in Sentencing Act, requiring certain felons to serve at least 85% of their sentence. Nevertheless, Brown has 602 days of credit for time served and will serve about three years.

Brown declined an opportunity to address Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. before sentencing.

Brown was charged after an investigation launched April 13, 2023, at a residence in the 600 block of East Kent Street in Streator. There, officers found a 27-year-old man in the residence with a gunshot wound to his lower body. The victim survived. Brown admitted to firing a gun, which was retrieved.

However, Brown had no previous felonies and was, according to court filings, preparing to raise an affirmative defense – that is, he would ask a jury to exonerate him on the grounds that he acted in self-defense and out of necessity.