Casey’s robber gets 12-year sentence

MORRISON – A Rock Falls man whose partner drowned after they robbed the Sterling Casey’s will serve 12 years for armed robbery.

Joshua E. Messenger, 26, was given credit for 601 days served in Whiteside County Jail and ordered to pay $1,649.50 in restitution.

On May 22, 2011, Messenger and Scott Denning, 39, of Rock Falls, robbed two convenience store clerks with a knife, taking $1,641.51 and a 12-pack of beer, and jumped into the Rock River while making their escape.

Denning drowned; his body was found near Lyndon several days later.

Messenger also was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison for criminal damage to government-supported property. In January 2012, he broke a jail TV and tried to create a spark with the wires.

Messenger also has convictions for aggravated battery, domestic battery, and burglary in Whiteside County.