Benton News

Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey recorded a small earthquake Thursday night near Benton, Ill., in rural Franklin County.

A 52-year-old Jefferson County, Illinois woman was convicted Tuesday on federal methamphetamine charges, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Stephen Wigginton said.

A southern Illinois man faces up to 13 years in prison after admitting he falsely told an FBI agent he knew of a plot to disrupt the 2012 general election with explosives.

A St. Louis man who wore a polka dot dress, a wig and sunglasses when he held up a Southern Illinois bank in September has been sentenced to 52 months in federal prison.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved O'Fallon attorney Staci Yandle for a federal judgeship in the Southern District of Illinois.

Shawn M. Worley, 23, of 704 North Frisco, Benton, Illinois has been sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to Burglary, a Class 2 Felony.

In Franklin County, two men are charged with aggravated Battery. The Sheriff's Office says 27-year-old Joshua Connors of Thompsonville and 20-year-old Dillion Estep of Valier were taken into custody around 1:43 a.m. Monday after they got into a fight in Benton.