West Chicago man sentenced in stick-up of drug dealer

An 18-year-old West Chicago man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for his role in a drug deal gone bad.

Raekwon Kelsor pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted armed robbery with a firearm.

Assistant State's Attorney Demetri Demopoulos told Judge John Kinsella that Kelsor and five other men concocted a plan on July 18, 2004, to steal cannabis by holding up a known dealer in the neighborhood.

Demopoulos said Kelsor's co-defendant, Sir Ronald Wiley, called the victim to set up what was supposed to be a drug buy. When the group arrived, Demopoulos said, another co-defendant, Berton Booker, pulled a .357 handgun on the victim and a small group of men with the victim and demanded the drugs, money and some personal belongings.

When the victim produced the cannabis, it was Kelsor who snatched it from the victim's hands. Kelsor's group then fled and intended to meet back up at Kelsor's apartment to split up the proceeds.

"You've made quite a mess of things here. This is not the way start your adult life," Kinsella told Kelsor. "You and this group of knuckleheads, for lack of a better word, made a really stupid decision and crossed a line that endangered people's lives."

Kinsella advised Kelsor to get some new friends and plan for his life after prison.

"You're going to a miserable, rotten place with a bunch of other miserable, rotten people, so we'll see," Kinsella said.

Kelsor must serve 85 percent of the sentence and he receives credit for the 266 days he has already served.

Booker, 23, is charged with armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. His next court date is May 13. Raequon Nelson, 17, of Maywood faces the same adult charges and is due in court on May 12. Sir Ronald Wiley, Jr., 18, of Carol Stream, faces the same charges and is due in court on May 13. Zevonshea Smiley, 18, of West Chicago faces the same charges and is next scheduled to appear on May 13. Antonio Morris, Jr., 18, of Berwyn, pleaded guilty to the same charges in January and was sentenced to eight years in prison boot camp.