Former Ill. cop's prison term reduced to 375 years

[May 12, 2011]  BLOOMINGTON (AP) -- The 440-year prison sentence given to a former central Illinois police sergeant convicted of raping four women has been reduced by 65 years.

The Pantagraph reports Judge Robert Freitag on Wednesday reduced Jeff Pelo's sentence to 375 years. The judge's decision came after an appellate court ruled in October that Pelo's sentence should be recalculated.

The court ruled penalties added onto sexual assault counts were unconstitutional.

Pelo was convicted in 2008 of raping four women in the Bloomington-Normal area and stalking a fifth.

Pelo's attorney argued the verdict should be tossed because jurors were shown too much pornography from Pelo's computer. The appeals court ruled a few of the images weren't relevant but that the issue didn't affect Pelo's conviction.

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Information from: The Pantagraph, http://www.pantagraph.com/

[Associated Press]

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