Police sergeant convicted of rapes - sentenced August 12 to 440 years

(Original Post 6-19-08)
Former Bloomington, IL Police Sergeant Jeffery Pelo was arrested in 2006 for the rapes of 4 women and the stalking of a 5th. He was convicted yesterday of 35 counts stemming from those attacks and is expected to face a minimum sentence of life equivalent. The Bloomington Pantagraph has an extensive collection of Pelo trial links.

(Update 8-13-08) Pelo was sentenced to 440 years in prison for the rape of 4 women and the stalking of a 5th yesterday in Bloomington. Associate Judge Robert Freitag sentenced him in a McLean County courtroom consecutively for 5 separate attacks. Pelo was sentenced to 255 years for his attack on victim S.G. on January 26, 2005. The 255 years were broken into 8 consecutive 28 year terms for aggravated criminal sexual assault, 26 years for home invasion, and another 5 years for intimidation.

Pelo got 45 years for the rape of A.L., raped January 4, 2005, and 70 years for the assault on K.M. in April 2003. The first rape, of A.M. back in 2002, netted 60 years, and the stalking of J.G added 10 more years. Pelo's sentence could have been even longer, if Judge Frietag could have stacked sentences for all counts.

Judge Frietag denounced Pelo as a blight to his community, saying "You literally went from being a protector of our community to a plague on our community. The atrocity is magnified by the fact you were a police officer at the time of these offenses.”