27-Year Sentence for Armed Robbery for Jackson

Greenup resident Nicholas Jackson has been sentenced to 27 years in prison in Coles County for armed robbery and home invasion.

The 24-year-old Jackson pleaded guilty to holding up Casey's General Store in Mattoon last August and to entering a home in Mattoon in March 2014 and tying up the family inside.

The court imposed a 27-year sentence for both offenses, but the sentences will run concurrently.

Earlier Monday, Jackson pleaded guilty in Cumberland County to a count of burglary. Jackson received a three-year prison term for entering a vehicle and stealing a gun. The incident occurred last July in Greenup, about a month before the armed robbery.

Cumberland County State's Attorney Jonathan Braden said the information about the burglary didn't lead to Jackson until his involvement in the Coles County offenses came to light.

Jackson is also charged in Effingham County with armed robbery for allegedly holding up Econolodge on West Fayette in Effingham the day after the Casey's holdup last August. As a condition of the guilty plea in Coles County, prosecutors indicated that he would receive no more than a 27-year sentence in Effingham County and that the sentence would also run concurrent with the Coles County term.

Jackson's co-defendant in the Coles County cases, Zachary Sapp of Greenup, is slated in court on April 6 for a pre-trial hearing.