Botched Ottawa robbery suspect takes 8 years in plea

He didn’t have a gun – he’d covered his “gun hand” in a paper bag – and the skeptical store clerk wouldn’t open the cash register, anyway. Eugene Orvis made off only with an unpaid fountain drink.

That was one expensive drink: Orvis left La Salle County Circuit Court on Thursday with an eight-year prison sentence.

The 45-year-old homeless man pleaded guilty to four felonies, one of them for the attempted April 16 holdup at the Circle K in Ottawa. Though set for trial Monday, Orvis cut his losses and took a plea that likely opens him to parole in 2026.

Orvis first pleaded guilty to one count of driving while revoked and one count of escape, the latter filed in October 2021 after he failed to report for weekends in La Salle County Jail. He took two years.

Then, he pleaded guilty to two offenses filed after he absconded from his weekends. Ottawa police developed him as a suspect in the botched holdup – the clerk and store camera both got a good look at Orvis – and his trail got hotter after police found a stolen car crashed in the 1500 block of Guion Street.

So Orvis took another six years for aggravated attempted robbery and unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle. That prison term must be served back-to-back with the escape/revoked time, but Orvis is eligible for day-for-day good time and has the equivalent of a year served.

When offered a chance to address Judge Cynthia M. Raccuglia, Orvis said he was sorry.

“I just want to apologize for my shenanigans,” he said, “I just want to get this behind me.”