CAHOKIA, Ill. - A man who once bragged about outrunning the cops won’t be going anywhere for a while.
Lee E. Nichols, 35, of Cahokia, Illinois, has been sentenced to 71 months in federal prison for unlawfully possessing methamphetamine and a gun, United States Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft announced. United States District Judge Staci M. Yandle handed down the sentence, which the parties agreed to in advance as part of a negotiated plea agreement. Nichols was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release and must forfeit the gun.
Court proceedings revealed that sometime around midnight on June 21, 2017, a Dupo police officer attempted a traffic stop on a Corvette that Nichols was driving. Nichols fled and led police on a high-speed chase. The pursuit was eventually terminated for safety reasons on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge headed into Missouri, but recognizing Nichols from past encounters, officers obtained warrants for his arrest and immediately began looking for him. Meanwhile, just two hours after speeding away from police, Nichols posted about his reckless getaway on Facebook, boasting that he had been going over 120 mph. A week later, Nichols uploaded a braggadocios video to his Facebook page about his run from the law, claiming he would do it again and threatening to hurt any police officer who got in his way.
On July 16, 2017, Nichols was caught when an off-duty Dupo police officer recognized him at a bar in Columbia, Illinois. On-duty officers arrived and immediately arrested Nichols on the outstanding warrants. During the arrest, officers discovered .8 grams of methamphetamine in Nichols’ front pants pocket and a loaded Colt .22 pistol in his back pocket. Nichols is legally barred from possessing a firearm as a result of his criminal history, which includes a 2003 conviction for aggravated assault.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Dupo Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Hoell.