The jury deliberated only about 30 minutes before finding the Peoria man guilty of possessing small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, as well as four traffic offenses stemming from a speeding stop south of Sparland on Sept. 9.
Source/Credit: Journal Star
By Gary L. Smith | April 02, 2013
Judge orders Warith R. Muhammad jailed until sentencing for incident at traffic stop
LACON —Self-proclaimed “Messiah” Warith Muhammad was found guilty Tuesday afternoon of drug charges in a Marshall County case in which he defended himself partly by alleging the case was “all about money.”
The jury deliberated only about 30 minutes before finding the Peoria man guilty of possessing small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, as well as four traffic offenses stemming from a speeding stop south of Sparland on Sept. 9.
In a step that seemed to stun Muhammad, 32, Circuit Judge Scott Shore immediately revoked his bond and ordered him jailed until sentencing April 24. He could face up to a three-year prison sentence.
“I don’t get no furlough days to take care of things at home I’ve got to take care of before I get sentenced?” Muhammad asked the judge.
“No,” Shore replied.
Several jurors approached afterward declined to comment. But the speed with which they reached six verdicts and signed all the paperwork suggested that they had decisively rejected the defendant’s claims that there was no real evidence against him and that authorities had cooked up the case in a scheme to seize and sell the 2003 Range Rover that he was driving that night.
In an earlier session outside the jury’s presence, Muhammad had asked Shore for an “immediate acquittal” at the end of the prosecution case. He could not get a fair trial as an African-American in a small, mostly white county where many people know the police and prosecutor, he maintained.
“All the cards are stacked against me in this case because we’re in such a small town,” Muhammad told Shore, who said he found no indications of racial or other bias with the jury.
But Muhammad did not press that issue in his closing to jurors, informing them instead that the Range Rover had been seized. Although that was not an issue in the criminal case, State’s Attorney Paul Bauer is seeking to have the vehicle forfeited to the county in a separate civil action.
“This (case) is all about money, all about money and the seizure of my property,” Muhammad said. “If I was in a Pinto, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Muhammad had been stopped for driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone on Illinois Route 29, and was later found to have no current driver’s license, no legal registration and no proof of insurance. The drug charges arose when police reported finding small packets of marijuana and rock cocaine wrapped up in white tissue paper that the arresting officer saw fly out of the vehicle onto the roadside.
Just before Muhammad was led out of the courtroom in cuffs, he announced a change in strategy when Shore repeated his frequent reminder that the defendant could have an attorney appointed at any time. Although he had previously discharged a public defender, he decided it was time to request one instead of representing himself in the sentencing phase.
“It hasn’t worked this far,” he said.
Gary L. Smith can be reached at (800) 516-0389 or glsmith@mtco.com. Read his Northern Circuit blog at pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Glsmithx.
Read original post here: Self-labeled 'Messiah' found guilty of drug possession
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