U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
Central District of Illinois

Central District of Illinois

www.justice.gov/usao/ilc

For Immediate Release

October 17, 2011

Kankakee Men Sentenced to Federal Prison Terms

Urbana, Ill. – On Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey sentenced two Kankakee, Ill., men to prison terms in unrelated cases.

Kaliph P. Whitlow, 31, was ordered to serve 262 months (21 years, 10 months) in federal prison for distribution of five grams or more of cocaine base 'crack' in January 2009. Whitlow was charged by federal indictment in June 2010 and entered a plea of guilty on Apr. 8, 2011.

The court determined that eight prior felony convictions, including seven prior felony drug convictions, classified Whitlow as a career offender under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Whitlow had faced a statutory sentencing range of 10 years to life in prison. Upon completion of his prison sentence, Whitlow was ordered to remain on supervised release for a period of eight years.

Drayper T. Wilson, 29, was ordered to serve 235 months (19 years, seven months) in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon on or about Aug. 4, 2010. Wilson was charged by federal complaint on Aug. 9, 2010, and was indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 17, 2010. He pled guilty to the offense on July 5, 2011. Wilson faced a statutory range of 15 years to life in prison as an armed career criminal because of nine prior felony convictions for crimes of violence. Upon completion of his prison term, Wilson was ordered to serve five years on supervised release.

Both Whitlow and Wilson have remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since their respective arrests on the charges.

The cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kankakee Police Department under the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller.

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