A Hardin man has been sentenced to a decade in the Illinois Department of Corrections following his conviction on burglary and theft charges in Calhoun County.
Fifty-seven-year-old Donald G. Dawson was found guilty by a Calhoun County jury on July 15th following a two-day trial before visiting Judge J. Frank McCartney.
McCartney sentenced Dawson on August 5th to ten years in prison. Dawson was given credit for 101 days he had already spent in pre-trial detention.
Calhoun County State’s Attorney Lucas Fanning prosecuted the case.
The investigation began in July of 2025, when the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office received a report that a large quantity of tools had been stolen from a work truck parked at the Godar Diamond boat ramp just outside Hardin.
The investigation continued into April of this year, when authorities received information about the location of the stolen tools.
On April 12th, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office worked with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in Greene County to execute a court-authorized search warrant at a residence in Eldred.
The stolen tools were recovered during the search, and Dawson was arrested and subsequently charged.
The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office credited the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, White Hall Police Department, Roodhouse Police Department, Carrollton Police Department and Illinois Conservation Police with assisting in the execution of the search warrant.
The sheriff’s office also thanked the Greene and Calhoun County State’s Attorney’s Offices for their assistance with the investigation and prosecution.