Last Individual Involved in 4-County Home Invasions Cases in Pike Sentenced

By Benjamin Cox on August 20, 2020 at 6:04pm

The last individual involved in a series of home invasions last year across West Central Illinois was sentenced in Pike County Court late Wednesday.

30 year old Edwin Powell of Jacksonville was sentenced to to 38 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for his part in two Pike County home invasions from August 2019. Powell plead guilty on June 30th to three counts of home invasion, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, one count of possession of a stolen firearm, and two counts of felony theft in connection to events that occurred Adams, Pike, and Scott counties last year.

The Pike County Sheriff’s Department was the lead investigative agency for the cases with significant assistance provided by the Illinois State Police, the Jacksonville Police Department, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department, the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, and the Pittsfield Police Department.

In October 2019, Gemarco Tate of Galesburg pled guilty to three counts of home invasion and one count of residential burglary. He was sentenced to 32 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea on July 7th but had it denied by Pike County Circuit Judge J. Frank McCartney. According to WGEM in Quincy, his appeal of that motion denial is presently docketed before the Illinois Court of Appeals for the Fourth District.

In December 2019, Jordan Gallup of Alton pled guilty to two counts of residential burglary and one count of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle. He was sentenced to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the residential burglary counts, concurrent with 7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the possession of a stolen vehicle count. In May, Tyler Runk of Jacksonville pled guilty to three counts of home invasion, one count of residential burglary, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, one count of possession of a stolen firearm, and three counts of felony theft and was also sentenced to 40 years in IDOC. According to WGEM, he has not filed a motion to appeal.