Area man gets jail, probation in heroin case
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com August 7, 2012 8:18PM
Updated: September 13, 2012 6:07AM
An ex-convict with ties to Naperville was sentenced Tuesday to 252 days in jail for possessing heroin earlier this year in Bolingbrook.
Brandon L. Morgan pleaded guilty in Will County Circuit Court in Joliet to a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance. A companion charge of possession of a hypodermic needle or syringe was dismissed in exchange for that plea, according to court records.
Judge Amy M. Bertani-Tomczak accepted Morgan’s plea, imposed the jail term and placed him on 2 1/2 years of probation, court records indicated.
Bertani-Tomczak gave Morgan 126 days of credit toward his sentence for time he has spent in jail since being arrested, records showed. With day for day credit for good behavior, Morgan has already completed that term.
Morgan, 27, last lived on the 5900 block of Oakwood Drive in Lisle. He has served prison or jail terms on charges that include aggravated battery, forgery, theft and trespassing.
He was sentenced to prison four years ago for threatening Naperville police with knives during a shoplifting attempt at a home improvement center. He has also served prison or jail terms for crimes committed in Channahon and Lisle.
A Bolingbrook police spokesman said Morgan was arrested April 3 outside a business on the 300 block of South Route 53. A police officer on patrol saw a red Mercury Grand Marquis parked there, with its two occupants acting suspiciously.
The officer spotted part of a syringe on the car’s seat, the spokesman said in April. A small plastic bag containing a white powdery substance found in Morgan’s possession field tested positive as .38 grams of heroin.
Morgan in March 2008 was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on four felony charges of aggravated battery. That followed a Nov. 3, 2007 incident inside the Home Depot store near 75th Street and Route 59 on Naperville’s far west side.
Police in 2007 said Morgan tried to leave the store without paying for three stainless-steel chimney caps worth $350. Morgan’s occupation was listed as chimney sweep on the Will County Jail website.
A spokesman said Morgan became belligerent after being approached by members of the store’s loss-prevention team. Three employees ended up being choked, bitten and kicked by him.
After police were called, Morgan pulled out a knife and threatened store employees and police with it. Police disarmed Morgan, who claimed to have been injured during the scuffle.
Morgan was taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville for treatment. After being examined in the emergency room, he tried to escape, which culminated in a foot chase and his subsequent capture. A police officer was slightly injured during that pursuit.
Will County court records showed Morgan was sentenced in May 2008 to 3 1/2 years in prison in an April 2004 trespassing case and an April 2006 forgery. Both crimes occurred in Channahon.
DuPage County court records indicated Morgan was sentenced to jail after being found guilty of a December 2005 theft from the Volvo of Lisle car dealership.
He also served jail terms for an October 2009 retail theft in Aurora and a reckless driving complaint filed that month by the Illinois State Police, according to records.
Morgan also faces trial in DuPage County on misdemeanor charges of shoplifting and theft in Darien, records showed.
He also has two traffic cases pending, following arrests by Hinsdale and Illinois State police.
