Bloomington man detained on gun charges

James P. Leshore, 43, of Bloomington and Lonnie L. Kimbrough, 38, of Peoria are each charged with two counts of unlawful use of weapons by a felon, class 2 misdemeanors, and one count of armed repeat offender, a class X felony. They have both been previously convicted of a crime.

Leshore appeared before Judge Jason Chambers while Kimbrough appeared in Judge Scott Black's courtroom Monday afternoon.

Assistant State's Attorney David Beard filed a motion to arrest Leshore and Assistant State's Attorney David Fitt filed a motion to arrest Kimbrough, both arguing the defendants are dangerous.

According to probable cause, Bloomington police conducted a traffic stop on Kimbrough in the early hours of June 2 for speeding on East Market Street in Bloomington. Kimbrough was the driver and Leshore was the front passenger.

Assistant State's Attorney David Beard said Leshore fled on foot from police while Kimbrough cooperated with officers and answered questions. They were both ultimately taken into custody.

During a search of the vehicle, police found a loaded .38 caliber pistol, an open bottle of alcohol and three grams of cannabis. Kimbrough told police he was unaware of the gun and had just purchased the car, prosecutors said.

Leshore told police he knew about the gun, prosecutors said.

Deputy Public Defender Brian McEldowney represented Leshore and asked Chambers not to detain him, saying Leshore had a stable job in Normal and did not believe he posed a threat to public safety.

Chambers granted the state's request to detain Leshore, noting that he “has an extensive criminal history dating back over 20 years with Department of Corrections sentences, and has continued to commit crimes over these 20 years.

First Deputy Public Defender Matthew Koetters represented Kimbrough and argued that his client complied with officers while the other defendant ran.

“(Leshore) knew there were guns there, and there weren’t, that’s why he ran, but my client didn’t,” Koetters said.

Black found that the state had not proven that Kimbrough should be detained and ordered his release. The judge also ordered Kimbrough to follow legal conditions of release, report to pretrial services to undergo pretrial supervision while out of custody and not possess a firearm.

Both defendants are due back in court for their arraignment on June 14.