By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A former East St. Louis police chief has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison for tampering with a federal investigation.
Jurors convicted Ron Matthews in December of plotting to obstruct federal agents and lying to a grand jury investigating a felon who illegally carried a handgun as an auxiliary police officer.
Matthews continued to profess his innocence Monday and had asked for leniency.
A federal judge did give him a bit of a break on the charges, which carried a possible penalty of up to five years in prison.
The judge cited Matthews' almost three decades of public service and lack of criminal record.
But Judge G.Patrick Murphy ultimately decided that jail time was needed and sentenced Matthews to two years and nine months in prison.