Sterling man now co-defendant in string of area burglaries

MORRISON – Another man was charged this week in Whiteside County Court in connection with a string of area burglaries that police say occurred on Oct. 11.

Antonio Medina, 39, of Sterling was charged Tuesday with two counts of burglary, two of theft (one worth more than $500 but less than $10,000 and one worth less than $500) and three counts of possession of a stolen credit card.

Ryan D. Hicks, 36, of Rock Falls was charged Nov. 6 with the same crimes, records show.

According to the charging documents, the two men entered K’s Korners, 13030 Galt Road in Sterling, and Casey’s General Store, 1604 First Ave. in Rock Falls, with the intent to steal, stole two debit cards from the Prophetstown Fire Protection District office and used them to obtain items, and possessed not only those two government agency cards but also that of a person who had lost or mislaid her debit card.

The burglary charges and the greater theft are punishable by three to seven years in prison, the other four by one to three years.

Medina also was charged Tuesday with possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine, punishable by two to five years in prison.

He also has two open 2023 felony forgery cases pending in Whiteside County, for crimes allegedly committed Dec. 12, 2022, and Jan. 7, 2023. Each carries a sentence of two to five years.

Hicks, who had eight pending felony cases at the time he was charged in this case, now has 11, all pending in Whiteside County.

On Nov. 22, he was charged with burglary and retail theft, which investigators said happened Oct. 10, and he was charged Jan. 5, also with possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine on Dec. 24.

Details on Hicks’ new charges and Medina’s forgery charges were not available late Thursday.

Hicks now faces 25 felony counts for crimes he is accused of committing from 2018 to 2023.

In addition to those named above, he is charged with nine counts of writing bad checks, two more of theft, financial exploitation of an elderly person and one each of unlawful possession of a credit card and possession of methamphetamine.

On Jan 8, a petition to revoke his pretrial release was denied. “The court finds that state has shown, by clear and convincing evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release would reasonably prevent the [defendant] from being charged with a subsequent offense,” the online record reads.

His next hearing in the first eight cases is Feb. 13; he has a pretrial hearing Jan 29 in the other three.

Hicks also has previous felony convictions.

According to Whiteside and Lee County court records:

After being terminated from the Whiteside County Drug Court program, Hicks was sentenced on June 7, 2016, to five years in prison for theft worth less than $300 with a previous conviction. A second count was dismissed per a plea agreement. On May 2, 2017, after a motion to withdraw his plea and vacate the sentence, it was reduced to four years, six months.

On Jan 25, 2012, he was sentenced to a 1 ½ years of probation for possession of a controlled substance and to a year’s probation in another case for aggravated fleeing. His probation was revoked in the drug case and he was sentenced to two years in prison on March 25, 2014.

On Nov. 13, 2019, Hicks was sentenced to three years in prison in Lee County for possession of a controlled substance. One count of manufacturing less than 15 grams of heroin was dismissed.

On April 3, 2014, he was convicted of destroying evidence and sentenced to two years, to be served concurrently with the Whiteside County drug case.

Medina was convicted Oct. 1, 1998, in Whiteside County of driving while his license was revoked and sentenced to 2 ½ years of probation.