MT. VERNON, IL — A 29-year-old Mt. Vernon man was sentenced Monday to six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to the lesser of three charges stemming from an armed incident in 2020. David Rodriguez has remained in the Jefferson County Jail since his arrest in August 2020 following an armed incident where he took his two young children from a home in the 4000 block North Scheller Lane in Mt. Vernon.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies had responded to a call of shots fired at the home and upon their arrival, a woman told them the non-custodial father of her two children had gone to the home and was upset that his children were there. Rodriguez then reportedly began waving a gun around and threatening people there at the home before taking the children from the residence and firing shots into the woman’s unoccupied vehicle in the driveway. Rodriguez was found a short time later at his mother’s home in Waltonville and was taken into custody without further incident. The children were reportedly unharmed.

Rodriguez was charged in the case with two counts Class X armed violence and one Class 3 felony count being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty Monday to the Class 3 charge in exchange for the more serious Class X charges being dismissed.