The Kewanee man who pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot employees at Great Dane was back in jail following new charges for allegedly threatening to kill people. Richard McDonald was back in the Henry County Jail on October 28th after his post-trial conviction was revoked because he had new charges for violation of sex offender registration, driving on a revoked license, and electronic harassment. Richard McDonald is charged with allegedly sending messages to a family member threatening to kill people. McDonald pleaded guilty to amended count one for making terrorist threats in an open plea on September 13th; the remaining two counts for case 22CF281 are dismissed as part of the agreement. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for December 16th. At the sentencing hearing, the defense requested a continuance because Mr. McDonald wanted to get all the cases done. The state didn’t object because sentencing now would pose transportation issues for the Illinois Department of Correction on the remaining cases. The sentencing hearing was continued to January 23, 2024, with the intent to combine sentencing and a plea.
According to court documents from October 27th, McDonald failed to report a phone number change to the Kewanee Police Department as required under the sex offender registration act. Mr. McDonald drove a motor vehicle without a license and has at least three prior occasions of driving revoked, but less than nine occasions. Mr. McDonald is charged with transmitting an electronic communication, being a text message, to DJ and threatening to kill people. Richard McDonald waived a preliminary hearing for the new charges on November 6th.
A request for bond motion was filed by the family of Richard McDonald, stating that Richard manipulated his mother, Rose, for the money to pay his bond, which was 10% of $150,000 ($15,000). According to court documents, the request is to return the bond money to Rose because she was manipulated by Richard to cover the bond. The document states that she didn’t know at the time that she wasn’t going to get the money back. The document also states, “He is a threat to her well-being and has manipulated the court system into thinking he is her caretaker.” In the bond document, Richard said that all but $800 was from his mother. A motion hearing has not been scheduled at the time of this writing.
During a motion to reduce bond hearing on November 7, 2022, Richard McDonald said that his mother had cancer and dementia and that he was her only caretaker. He said he didn’t have $15,000 for bond and said he needed to be home to care for his mother. The motion to reduce the bond was denied. McDonald told RegionalMediaNews one day after court that he didn’t threaten Great Dane. He said that he made a passing comment about not wanting anyone to die because he was sick. He also said that his mother had dementia and didn’t always know what she was doing. His mother posted the bond on May 8, 2023, and McDonald was released from custody.
Richard McDonald is charged with Making Terrorist Threats (Class X Felony), two violations of the Sexual Offender Registration Act (Class 3 Felonies) for 2022CF281, Driving on a Revoked License (Class 4 Felony) for case 2023CF348; Driving on a Revoked License (Class A Misdemeanor) for case 2023MT345; Violation of Sex Offender Registration (Class 3 Felony) for case 2024CF82; Violation of Sex Offender Registration 2+ (Class 2 Felony), Driving on a Revoked License (Class 4 Felony), and Threats by Electronic Harassment (Class A Misdemeanor) for case 2024CF307.
