Illinois men sentenced for derailing UP locomotive

PEORIA, Ill. — Two Bartonville, Ill., men have avoided jail time through a plea bargain regarding charges they derailed a Union Pacific locomotive late last year. Jimmy Johnson, 20, and Caleb Finley, 18, pleaded guilty last week to charges of damage to railroad property, a Class 4 felony, WCBU radio reports. They were sentenced in Peoria County Circuit Court to 30 months of probation, must perform 100 hours of community service within the next year, and paid $1,075 in fees. They had faced up to three years in prison, but entered into plea agreements a week before their trial was set to begin, WEEK-TV reports. The two men were arrested Nov. 18, 2024, after allegedly moving a derailing device and derailing a UP locomotive just outside of Bartonville, causing some $80,000 in damage. [See “Two arrested in derailment …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 19, 2024].