Staff Report

ROCKFORD – Winnebago County Judge Randy Wilt, on Tuesday, sentenced a 31-year-old man to almost two decades behind  bars.

David Ramal Stephens was sentenced to 18 years in prison for residential burglary after pleading guilty last Oct. 21.

April 27, 2017, officers with the Rockford Police Department were dispatched to a home on Old Hunter Road in reference to a residential burglary. The resident told officers he returned to his home and found his front door was forced open and saw a man run to a car that as in his driveway and leave. He later noticed his television was on the floor.

During the investigation, Stephens was developed as a suspect.

Residential Burglary is a Class 1 felony with a sentencing range of four to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by 3 years mandatory supervised release. Class X sentencing applied in the case, which made the offense punishable by six to 30 years.