Mattoon Man Gets 12-Year Sentence in Effingham County Drug Case

Mattoon resident Christopher Beasley Tuesday was sentenced on an Effingham County charge to 12 years in prison. 

The 34-year-old Beasley was sentenced on a charge of possession of 15 to 100 grams of methamphetamine. Similar charges in Coles County were dismissed as part of a negotiated plea to the Effingham County count.

Beasley and another defendant were arrested by Effingham city and county authorities on June 7 at a motel in Effingham. When police made the arrest, they located illegal narcotics equipment. A subsequent search of the room turned up a half-pound of methamphetamine and a firearm.

Beasley at the time was arrested on a failure to appear in court warrant from Coles County. The other defendant, 21-year-old Alexis Marshall of Freeburg, was arrested on a US Marshal's Service warrant.

Beasley will serve one year mandatory supervised release once out of prison.