A Meredosia woman who claimed to police that she had been robbed along a country road in late August pleaded guilty on Tuesday to filing a false police report.
47-year old Diane M. Eckert pleaded guilty to Class A misdemeanor disorderly conduct for filing a false report to police. A Class 4 felony of filing a false police report was dropped per the plea.
Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call of a strong-arm robbery on Beauchamp Lane just off of Illinois Route 100 on the evening of Friday, August 18th. According to reports, Eckert told police that an older red Ford pick-up truck had passed her on Beauchamp Lane after she had left a Meredosia gas station. After a short distance of travel, Eckert said the truck blocked the roadway in front of her causing her to stop and two men opened her vehicle and demanded money, striking her in the face. She later posted about the incident on Facebook.
According to an update by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office on August 23rd, after a continued investigation into the alleged robbery, detectives with the sheriff’s office determined that the complaint was fabricated and no such robbery took place. Eckert was subsequently arrested.
On Tuesday, Eckert was sentenced to 2 years of probation and ordered to pay a $200 county fine plus fees and court costs. She was given credit for 3 days served in the Morgan County Jail.