Former Local Resident Given Five-Year Prison Term for Aggravated Domestic Battery

Former Effingham resident Justin J. Wheeler has been sentenced to five years in prison. The 32-year-old Wheeler, who now lives in Pekin, admitted to violating his probation on a charge of aggravated domestic battery. That offense involved strangling a pregnant woman.

Wheeler was arrested in December 2017. In March, he was placed on four years probation, but then violated the probation by making contact with the victim. In court Thursday, Wheeler admitted to violating the terms of his probation and received the prison sentence. He was immediately taken into custody to begin serving the prison term.