Ronald Nolan
JACKSON CO., Ill.—The bizarre tale of a ward alderman in the city of Murphysboro and the allegations of criminal sexual behavior on his part are finally at an end.
Set for a jury trial yesterday (Monday, November 17, 2014), Ronald Nolan, 47, instead opted to enter a plea in his multiple-charge cases and forestalled the public from hearing all the weird circumstances surrounding the situation, which started in September of 2013 after he was accused of basically abducting a young woman, age 20, and taking off with her in his car, traveling out of Jackson and all over Johnson and Union counties in the process, all the while “touching her inappropriately.”
Five days later Nolan was arrested, and while he was being housed in the Jackson County Detention Center in October 2013, he was accused of attacking jail staff and attempting to escape, which resulted in more charges against him of battery and assault on the correctional staff. Yet another attack on COs took place in November of 2013, and Nolan, who has been held in the jail since that time, was charged AGAIN.
Those latter charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal yesterday, in which Nolan accepted a guilty plea to Aggravated Battery of a Peace Officer (receiving 4 years DOC on that charge); and Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse (receiving 5 years DOC on that charge).
However, because of the time he’s spent in lockup, as well as truth in sentencing, he’ll be out in about 27 months. He does have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Nolan is an inexplicable character. A report in the Carbondale Times shows that while Nolan is a native of southern Illinois, he spent most of his life out of the state, and has a history of religious service in Oklahoma.
What on earth occurred in September a year ago (which prompted a LOT of officials lying for him; Disclosure staff spent several days trying to find out exactly what was going on, and nothing was officially published until weeks after the September 7, 2013 incident) that prompted Nolan’s actions may never be known.