A man charged in connection to the shooting of a Northern Illinois linebacker last year has pleaded guilty, the DeKalb Daily Chronicle is reporting.
A grand jury indicted 20-year-old Richard Van Arsdale III on seven counts last May — two counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, one count of armed violence, two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and one counts of unlawful delivery of marijuana — related to the April 5 shooting of NIU football player Devon Butler.
Van Arsdale pleaded guilty to one count of residential burglary and was sentenced to nine years in prison, with four-and-a-half years mandatory. He was also ordered to pay $15,000 to Butler’s family as well as $5,000 to the city of DeKalb for overtime costs incurred by its police department investigating the case.
The alleged shooter, 24-year-old Mark Orozco, was charged with nine counts by the grand jury, including multiple counts of attempted murder. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 10.
As for a motive behind Orozco allegedly firing four shots into an apartment building, police determined that the shooting stemmed from a drug deal that had gone wrong earlier in the day. The police and prosecutors have repeatedly stressed that Butler had nothing to do with the drug deal, and that he just happened to be visiting a man the suspects believed took marijuana without paying for the product.
Butler suffered a gunshot wound to his upper back and was hospitalized for two weeks before being released. He missed the entire 2011 season due to the injuries incurred in the shooting.
After taking a redshirt last season, the third-team All-MAC selection in 2010 is expected to return to the playing field in 2012.
(Photo credit: NIU athletics)
Walks like a duck….