A Jacksonville man sentenced to prison this past September for allegedly dealing in narcotics has vacated a plea deal.
32-year old Jordan C. Branch of the 1000 block of South Clay pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance on September 5, 2023 and was sentenced to 6 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
A July 2022 arrest also had another count of delivery of a controlled substance, two counts of resisting a peace officer, two counts of driving on a revoked license, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and disregarding a stop sign were all dropped per the plea agreement.
Branch was then re-arrested by Jacksonville Police on September 6, 2023 on two additional charges of manufacturing and delivery of controlled substances. Those counts have remained pending in Morgan County Circuit Court since his previous sentencing.
On Thursday, Branch officially vacated his guilty plea and was officially granted his motion to withdraw that plea by the court. Branch had previously said in Morgan County Court that he was unhappy with his defense counsel, but has retained his counsel – Springfield Attorney Monroe D. McWard.
The Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office filed an official motion to detain Branch prior to his trial. A ruling on that motion along with a status hearing on the pending cases has been set for today – Monday, March 4th.