Morgan County court hands down nine-year, six-year prison terms after revocations

Morgan County Circuit Court sent two local men to prison for years after probation revocations in older felony cases, turning a beer-bottle assault and a meth case into long Department of Corrections terms. John Ater, 37, of the 900 block of Hackett, received nine years for aggravated battery, while James Marez, 37, of the 700 block of Allen, received six years for meth possession.

Ater’s sentence followed a petition to revoke probation in a case that began with an August 2024 arrest after he was accused of hitting another man with a beer bottle. Along with the prison term, the court ordered Ater to pay $605 in restitution, adding a financial penalty to the felony conviction and revocation outcome.

Marez’s case moved through the same revocation process. He had originally been sentenced last July to eight days in the Morgan County Jail on the meth charge, but a new petition to revoke probation was filed this spring. The court then replaced that short jail sentence with a six-year prison term.

Taken together, the two sentences show how probation cases can return to court and end with much harsher punishment when a judge finds release conditions were violated. In Morgan County, that means older arrests can still produce major consequences long after the original plea or sentence was entered, especially in cases involving violent conduct or drugs.

Illinois probation-revocation procedure allows attorney screening and preliminary or final revocation hearings before a final decision is made. The state also maintains an offender search portal for people in custody and related release information, while the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office lists a victim-witness coordinator who can provide case-status information and referrals for social services and compensation. In a county where court decisions can quickly affect neighborhood safety, the Ater and Marez cases now carry consequences that will keep both men out of Morgan County communities for years.