Four persons sentenced for Alexander County catalytic converter thefts

In the fall of 2021, the Alexander County Sheriff’s Department, with the assistance of the Cairo Police Department and the Illinois State Police, investigated a string of catalytic converter thefts in Alexander County.

The Alexander County state’s attorney’s office reported in a news release that four persons were convicted as a result of the investigations into the theft.

Gabriel M. Rhymer, 27, of McClure, was sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, IDOC, with a two-year period of mandatory supervised release, for two counts of the Class 2 felony of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

John H. Jungers, 35, of Cape Girardeau, was sentenced to five years in the IDOC, with a two-year period of mandatory supervised release, for the Class 2 felony of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

Joseph D. Wilson, 30, of McClure, was sentenced to 10 years in the IDOC, with a two-year period of mandatory supervised release, for the Class 1 felony of aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

Trenton M. Matlock, 22, of McClure, was sentenced to five years in the IDOC, with a two-year period of mandatory supervised release, for the Class 2 felony of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

The cases were prosecuted by Alexander County State’s Attorney E. Zachary Gowin. The convictions were entered between the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022.