MARION COUNTY — A 28-year-old Centralia man pleaded guilty today to the 2013 domestic battery that resulted in his girlfriend losing vision in one eye.

Cedric D. Powe (Courtesy MCSO)
Cedric D. Powe
(Courtesy MCSO)

Cedric Deon Powe pleaded guilty to the Class 2 aggravated domestic battery including strangling, in exchange for charges of Class 3 aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm and Class X attempted murder being dismissed.

The case had been scheduled to go before a jury next week, but Powe instead negotiated the plea. A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered, and sentencing is set for April 15. A Class 2 felony is punishable by between 3 and 7 years in prison, but Powe could be sentenced to as much as 14 years.

Powe was charged with the savage December 2013 beating of his then girlfriend Chelsea Simmons. He fled the area after the incident, but was captured by St. Louis, Mo., police in April 2014 and extradited back to Illinois to face charges.

He has been held since that time in the Marion County jail with bail set at $500,000. Since then he has racked up additional charges while in custody.

Powe will be back in Marion County court next week on felony charges of bringing a controlled substance into a jail and criminal damage to government property.

Marion County Sheriff Rich Stevenson says Powe tipped off deputies to the possession of a shank by another inmate.
Stevenson says surveillance video shows Powe breaking the handle off the dustpan and hiding it in his jumpsuit.

A further search revealed a Risperidone pill hidden in a straw extension that had been placed on the end of the pencil.

He says Risperidone, which is used to treat schizophrenia and certain problems caused by bipolar disorder, was not prescribed to anyone in that cell.

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