A Rock Falls man has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a weapons charge.

Heath A. Knipple, 46, was charged July 2, 2025, with six counts of Class X felony dissemination of images of child sex abuse, with each count listing the victim as younger than 13. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if he is convicted.

A Lee County judge on Thursday set a June hearing for a Georgia man who’s pleaded not guilty to drug charges related to the Jan. 16 police search of a stranded vehicle near Amboy.

An Illinois appellate court has ordered a new hearing in a 2011 Sterling shooting case, ruling that a man convicted of attempted murder has possibly presented credible evidence of self-defense that was unavailable at trial.

An Amboy woman was taken into custody Thursday night in Dixon on an outstanding warrant for seven felony drug charges and subsequently charged with four additional felony drug offenses.

An Illinois appellate court has upheld the conviction of a Rock Falls man in connection with a fire at a Sterling apartment complex that killed three people in June 2020.

A Whiteside County jury pool allegedly includes dozens of deceased individuals, prompting a defense motion claiming systemic flaws in how Illinois compiles jury lists

Shanna M. Hillers of Sterling is charged in Lee County with aggravated battery in a public place, a Class 3 felony; official misconduct of a public employee, a Class 3 felony; and abuse/criminal neglect of a resident of a long-term care facility, a Class 4 felony.

Nine criminal charges filed against a Rock Falls man in connection with shots fired at a Rock Falls party last summer were dropped Monday as part of a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to burglary in an unrelated case