A convicted Ottawa murderer with eight years left to serve will not be paroled early — at least not after a Tuesday appearance in which he didn’t get a word in.
Dana G. Brown, 54, brought in Tuesday to La Salle County Circuit Court but what transpired cannot be described as a hearing. Brown had asked to make a case for early release, citing his health is failing and he’s served 75% of his time.
But when Brown came into court, Judge Cynthia M. Raccuglia urged him to save his breath. His pleading was so procedurally improper — “I didn’t quite know how to characterize the motion” — that Raccuglia preemptively denied his motion to let him seek relief in another venue.
“There is no remedy at law for you to get a reduction in sentence for all the things you have improved and worked on in the Department of Corrections,” Raccuglia told him.
Brown wasn’t given a chance to speak — neither was the state — and he did not address the judge after her denial.
Law enforcement officials consulted for this story said his most likely option is to file a clemency request with the governor’s office. Barring clemency, Brown is set for parole on March 9, 2030.
Brown was developed as a murder suspect in 1998 after workers found the body of Justin Poulaki, 21, in a Mendota-area field. Investigators determined Brown and an accomplice robbed Poulaki for drug money and left him bound and beaten in the field.
The following year, Brown pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, later reduced to 32 years due to a technicality.
Earlier this year he filed for the reduction of his remaining time, citing his “low health” and arguing his good conduct in prison merited early release.