Christian Reichert
JACKSON CO., Ill. - The first phase of Christian Reicherts sentencing began yesterday, Friday November 19 at 1:00 pm.
Reichert, 26, is the kid who has been found guilty of being a big pot trafficker in the area, this after a summer of 2016 bust as well as the shooting of a Carbondale cop in an incident where it's been proven Reichert was nowhere near, yet the prosecution in the case, Mike Carr, is blaming Reichert peripherally for something that other people (Reichert's co-defendants) are accused of doing in that instance.
Reichert's new attorney Aaron Hopkins began by asking for a new trial to be granted for several different reasons, one being he (Hopkins) wasn’t granted enough time to prepare for the trial.
Hopkins is Reichert's second attorney. He had asked for an additional 90 days to prepare and was only granted 30 and stated yesterday that he didn’t believe it was adequate time. He noted that he "saw stuff he had missed" and "didn’t think Reichert received a fair trial." One item in question was the $25,000 found in Reichert's mother's home, which was insinuated by Carr as belonging to Reichert when the money had been cleared and returned to a renter of Ms Reichert. Hopkins says the evidence was tainted. Judge Mark Bloodworth denied Hopkins' motion.
Carr brought in a witness from the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force and a woman from ISP who conducted the initial interview with Reichert. Also called to give victim impact statements were former Carbondale police officer Trey Harris - the man who was shot - and wife Mollie who is a current officer for Carbondale police department. Each gave emotional statements as to how the shooting of officer Harris, who has lost his sight in one eye in the shooting, has impacted their lives.
Although Reichert wasn’t the shooter or anywhere near Carbondale that fateful night, Mike Carr is determined that the case he has presented against Reichert lead up to those events.
Reichert has already been incarcerated 809 days; 162 of them were spent in the Williamson County Jail as he still faces a possession charge in that neighboring county. Three of Reichert's codefendants have taken plea deals, with one being placed on probation and a $25,000 fine which he admitted on the stand that the money used to pay the fines came from selling cars and drug money. The other two have received minimal sentencing compared to what Reichert is facing: a possible 12 to 60 years.
Over 25 family and friends appeared in court in support of Reichert, six of those being members of Darkhorse Ministries. Only two of Reichert's supporters had an opportunity to speak, one a former employer and the other a co-worker of Reichert's mother.
The next phase is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, October 23, at 1 p.m.