MARION COUNTY — A 28-year-old Centralia man was sentenced Wednesday in Marion County Court to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on a 2013 domestic battery incident that resulted in his then girlfriend losing vision in one eye.

Cedric Deon Powe pleaded guilty in March 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.

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.

In addition to his 14-year prison sentence, Powe must serve 4-years mandatory supervised release, otherwise known as parole, and pay $1,352.60 in restitution.

He has been held since his April 2014 arrest in the Marion County jail with bail set at $500,000. Powe will remain held in the Marion County Jail until after a May 20 court date on new 2015 charges he received while in custody.

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.