Champaign man sentenced probation for robbing Savoy Subway restaurant

URBANA — A Champaign man has been sentenced to four years of probation for robbing a Savoy sandwich shop last fall.

Champaign County Judge Matt Lee handed down the sentence Monday to Devante A. Derrickson, 22, after he pleaded guilty but mentally ill in May to the charge of aggravated robbery.

In exchange for the negotiated plea, the state agreed to cap their sentencing recommendation to no more than six years in prison and dismiss their initial charge of aggravated robbery while indicating armed with a firearm.

Police were dispatched to the Subway located in the 1300 block of North Dunlap in Savoy after a report of a robbery around 8:40 p.m. Sept. 21, 2023.

An employee told police that a man wearing a mask and gloves had entered the store, indicated he was armed with a firearm, and asked for all the money in the register. Before the man left, he reportedly told the clerk that she should follow him on social media and that he loved her.

Detectives with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office used automated license-plate readers to identify the car used by the robber, which led them to an address where Derrickson was staying on Tillman Avenue in Danville, Lt. Curt Apperson said.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers found an Airsoft gun, clothes, shoes and a mask consistent with what the robber was wearing when he was captured on surveillance video entering the Subway.

Members of the U.S Marshalls Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force took Derrickson into custody on Sept. 28, 2023.

Assistant State’s Attorney Dan Reynolds said on Monday he initially intended to argue Derrickson should be sentenced to six years in prison but changed his recommendation to four years after reading the defendant’s interview with a probation officer in a pre-sentence report.

Derrickson was reportedly forthcoming about his childhood adversity, how he was homeless for six months leading up to the robbery, and he took responsibility for doing drugs that ultimately exacerbated what were frequent paranoid delusions, the prosecutor acknowledged.

Recommending that Derrickson receive a community-based sentence, his defense attorney, Public Defender Janie Miller, added that her client was kicked out of the home and first made homeless at 17, he is still young, has as a 3-year-old child, no priors, and is now sober with a treatment plan for his diagnosed mental-health disorder.

“I’m grateful for my mistakes, for it has taught me how to become the man I am today,” Derrickson told the judge.

“The amount of spiritual books I have read, conversations I’ve had and countless sleepless nights thinking about all the things I could have done different to prevent being here today has led me to realize that no amount of desperation, anger or just pure ignorance is worth taking my life, years and years of time,” he continued.

Lee noted that the robbery was a serious offense with the potential to traumatize that store employee.

Although a forensic psychiatrist determined Derrickson could appreciate the criminality of his actions, the judge acknowledged that it was clear the defendant’s actions were influenced by a mental disorder that was distorting what was real.

Lee said Derrickerson appeared sincere in wanting to change, and the sentence of probation was a chance for him to prove the court right after he undergoes a mental-health and substance-abuse evaluation, and complies with all treatment recommendations.

Derrickson faced four to six years in prison for aggravated robbery, a probational Class 1 felony. He had credit for 299 days already served in jail.