WASHBURN Former McLean County Sheriff Donald Charging pleaded guilty Wednesday in district court in McLean County to making false statements on official paperwork, a Class A misdemeanor.

According to court documents, the 62-year-old Charging lied on the paperwork last November, while he was still sheriff, to buy firearms, including two Bushmaster M4A3 Type Patrolman’s Carbines. The state alleged that Charging used his position to obtain law enforcement tax exemptions and discounts to buy the firearms, which were supposed to be used only by law enforcement officers. Charging sold the firearms to his friends and co-workers for their personal use.

Charging was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and given a deferred imposition of sentence for one year. He was also ordered to pay $325 in court costs.

Andrea Johnson