Kidnapper of motel clerk gets 35 years

By Lindsay Welbers Princeton Reporter

PRINCETON Ten years since he robbed a motel and kidnapped and sexually assaulted the motel clerk, and after a weeklong sentencing hearing, Ricardo Louison was sentenced to 35 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Louison, 47, formerly of LeMars, Iowa, will serve the remainder of another unrelated robbery sentence in the Iowa Department of corrections before he will begin Louison serving in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Louison will be given credit for time served starting on his April 22, 2008, arrival

in the Bureau County Jail and is scheduled to be released from the Iowa Department of Corrections on Oct. 26, 2010. Louison was sentenced to serve 13 years on the kidnapping charge and another 22 years on the sexual assault charge. The sentences will be served consecutively and he is required to serve 85 percent of the sentences at minimum. Louison would be eligible for parole in 2039. He would be 78 years old at that time. The crime occurred on April 19, 1999 when Louison, who was working as a truck driver, pulled into a Princeton motel with the intention of robbing it. Louison testified that at the time of the incident, he had been gambling hundreds of dollars every week. The day before he had lost $23,500 playing blackjack in Sioux City, Iowa.
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Hours before, he lost more money than he would have earned in a year, said Louisons attorney David Pugh. Louison had driven from Iowa on his way to deliver a load to Brooklyn and needed money to pay for tolls, food and other expenses. He had gambled every cent in his pocket and his only original intention was to rob the motel. Louison approached the then-20-year-old female desk clerk who was outside smoking a cigarette and talking on

the payphone. He told the clerk he wanted to rent a room, and followed her inside. The clerk gave Louison the $100 in the till after he went behind the counter and threatened her with a 4-inch knife. He then forced her into his truck, bound her hands and feet with shoelaces, drove her to a separate location and sexually assaulted her. He then drove to another exit on Interstate 80 near Utica where he untied her, let her out of the vehicle and stabbed her at least five times including the left side of her

neck. She was taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital and later St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria where she was treated. Except for murder these crimes could not get any more serious than they are, Bureau County States Attorney Pat Herrmann said in his closing arguments. A murder case could have resulted in a death penalty. Louison isnt expected to appeal the ruling. Lindsay Welbers can be reached at (815) 872-1069 Ext. 13 or ntprinceton@ivnet.com.