Second plea of guilty for local aggravated robbery

By Benjamin Cox on April 10, 2019 at 1:36pm

A participant in a local robbery with fake weapons pleaded guilty in court Tuesday.

26 year old Tyrell Lobdell, of the 800 block of Hoagland Boulevard, was sentenced to 5 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Lobdell was originally scheduled for a hearing to determine status of the case next Tuesday. However, with the plea agreement secured for the co-defendant in regards to this crime, public defender Tom Piper settled a plea for Lobdell.

39 year old Richard Welch, of Peoria, was sentenced last week to 10 years in the state Department of Corrections on the same charge as Lobdell. Welch and Lobdell have now both pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery while indicating possession of a dangerous weapon.

WLDS/WEAI News has previously reported that on the evening of August 8th, 2017, Lobdell was arrested for aggravated robbery, theft, aggravated eluding or fleeing police, leaving the scene of an accident, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll explains how the case was concluded today.

“Tyrell Lobdell appeared in court and entered a guilty plea for aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 5 years in the Department of Corrections followed by two years of parole. Mr. Lobdell was caught fairly close to the scene, and after talking with police an identity of the second suspect was developed.”

During the course of an investigation, police discovered that the weapons displayed by Lobdell and Welch in the robbery were plastic guns that were made to look like real weapons.