Armed robber will be resentenced in May

DIXON – A Dixon man again faces 6 to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to the armed robbery of two convenience stores in 2006.

Jacob N. Cecil, 33, pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2008 and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

In October, Lee County Judge Ron Jacobson granted Cecil a new trial, saying that at the time of his original plea in 2008, he was not properly informed that he would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence under the state’s truth-in-sentencing laws.

Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery. In exchange for his plea, Lee County prosecutors dropped charges of carrying/possessing a concealed gun, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm, and unlawful use of weapons.

Cecil will be resentenced May 30. He is represented by Dixon attorney Anna Sacco-Miller.

According to court documents:

Cecil was wearing a gray ski mask and carrying a sawed-off shotgun when he went into the Stop-N-Go, 1100 E. River Road, just after midnight on June 9, 2006. He pointed the gun at the cashier and demanded money; he got about $150 and two cartons of cigarettes.

A week later, he robbed Hometown Pantry, 110 E. Seventh St., also with a sawed-off shotgun. He made off with about $500, and jumped into the passenger side of a Pontiac Bonneville. Police found the car at his home, and arrested Cecil and the driver, Matthew R. Stombaugh, 32, of Sterling.

They found the shotgun, money, cigarettes, and a cut-up sweater used to make the mask inside the home.

Stombaugh pleaded guilty that year to possession of a weapon by a felon and was sentenced to jail and probation.