A Rochelle man who head butted his girlfriend after an altercation over a Popsicle, and then called her repeatedly from jail to try to convince her to say nothing happened and not show up to court, was sentenced April 15 to five years in prison.

Ceczar P. Spann, 31, was found guilty March 9 of two counts of domestic battery for striking a member of his household during a Sept. 12, 2025, incident in their apartment in the 1200 block of Sunnymeade Drive.

Ogle County Judge John “Ben” Roe sentenced Spann to concurrent 5-year sentences after hearing a victim impact statement from the girlfriend and testimony from Ogle County Jail staff as to Spann’s numerous infractions while in custody.

Spann, who was still on parole from prison on two domestic abuse charges in Lee County when he was charged for the Rochelle offense, has been held in the Ogle County Jail since his arrest in September.

On Wednesday, Ogle County correctional officer Sgt. Ashley Sanders testified that Spann had incurred 15 major disciplinary incidents and two minor incidents while being held in the jail, located in Oregon.

She said the incidents included using PIN numbers of other inmates to make phone calls, calling the victim when he was ordered by Roe not to contact the woman, and lying to jail staff by claiming he was calling his attorney when he was actually calling the victim.

Sanders said inmates must use their six-digit identification number and PIN in order to make phone calls while in custody.

“They are given their own six-digit ID number and then they can create their own PIN,” Sanders said.

In another infraction, Sanders said Spann was seen on video congratulating an inmate who had physically assaulted another prisoner.

When Sanders confronted Spann about the incidents she said he responded that he “did not care”.

Rochelle police officer Tyler Woolbright testified that the woman told him the night of the offense that Spann had hit her at other times and that she feared for her and her children’s safety.

Reading her victim impact statement to the court, the woman said she met Spann just after he was released from prison and put on parole.

She said Spann had “punched” her face before the September incident and had once threatened to set himself on fire.

“He punched me in front of the kids,” she said. “He tried to strangle me twice.”

During the trial, Roe heard conflicting testimony from the woman, who originally told Rochelle police that Spann had hit her and then head butted her after they started arguing over her eating a Popsicle instead of “cuddling” with him when she returned home around 4 a.m. after work.

During the trial she said she was upset that Spann had eaten some of her Popsicles and called 911 because she had been drinking alcohol. She denied Spann hit her, causing her nose to bleed.

And she said she “over exaggerated” the incident, was “tipsy” from consuming two alcoholic drinks, and called the police only because she wanted Spann to leave the apartment.

But on Wednesday during the sentencing hearing, the victim thanked Roe and prosecutors for issuing the no contact order to prevent Spann from manipulating her.

Victim reads statement

“He would get in my head, but once he was in solitary I was able to see clear,” she said. “I don’t want any contact with him. He was out of prison less than a year and he went back to doing the same things as he had done before.

“You are nothing to me. I am not safe with you,” she said while looking at Spann. “I want to thank the prosecutors and the judge for helping me.”

A series of phone calls Spann made to the victim from jail following the Sept. 12 incident were played at the trial. Collect calls made by inmates list the name of the inmate calling and include a notification that the calls are “subject to recording”.

In those calls, Spann told the woman not to show up for court and said, “I am trying to beat this so I don’t have to go back to prison.”

In another call, Spann instructs the woman to call the state’s attorney’s office and say she wants the charges dropped and tells her to blame her injuries on a fall or an accident at work.

And in another, he promises the woman he will never hurt her again if released and that he does not deserve to be sent to prison for this offense and for violating his parole.

“You need to say you fabricated this whole thing and I did nothing,” Spann says in one of the calls.

On Wednesday, Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Kruse said Spann’s criminal history included battering two women between 2018 and 2020 in Lee County. She said he had violated probation in Lee County numerous times before finally being sentenced to prison.

Kruse read a long, detailed list of probation violations in Lee County that culminated with a three-year prison sentence in October 2022. She said Spann was charged with the Ogle County battery just nine months after his release from prison.

“He was on mandatory supervised release [parole] when he committed this crime in Ogle County,” Kruse said. “These are all crimes against women who he had romantic relationships with. There are not any grounds to justify these behaviors.”

During his months in the Ogle County Jail, Kruse said Spann made many phone calls to the victim “trying to manipulate” her for “his benefit”.

“Despite the no contact order – ordered by this court – within hours of one of his court hearings he is calling her," Kruse said. “In three days he called her 53 times. This clearly shows a pattern of manipulation.

“He’s telling her to lie to the court. This defendant celebrates violence. This is an individual who does not care. He even threatened to hold her children as hostages,” Kruse argued.

“This is an ongoing behavior and it is only escalating,” Kruse said, arguing for a six-year prison sentence. “Women need to be protected.”

She asked Roe to sentence Spann to six years in prison.

Assistant Ogle County Public Defender Brendan Gecan argued that Spann had experienced a difficult childhood and was raised by his grandmother in a “tough” Chicago suburb.

Gecan argued for a probation sentence for Spann, citing his ability to hold jobs during his adult life. He also said Spann had post-traumatic stress disorder from his childhood and a cannabis addiction disorder.

“He had no record of any disciplinary problems when he was in the Illinois Department of Corrections,” Gecan argued.

And Gecan said the many phone calls Spann made from the jail to the victim were not out a lack of respect for authority, but because he was “scared”.

“Yes, he was giving self-serving advice. He was scared,” Gecan said. “There were well over 400 calls in total. She accepted them. His motivation was to work for a solution for both of them to salvage the relationship.”

Defendant speaks

In his statement to Roe, Spann first asked if he was allowed to turn and look at the victim who was sitting in court. Roe denied that request.

Span then apologized to the victim for the “traumatic experience”.

“I loved her. I ask for her forgiveness,” he said.

“My attempt to thwart the judicial process was not only foolish, but unnecessary as well. I was honestly scared, and being that I’m not from this county, I panicked,” Spann said, directing his comments to Roe and Kruse.

“I just wanted to go home, and I went about it the wrong way and for that I am sorry and I accept the consequences.”

Spann also asked Roe to consider that he is a father who is trying to get back to his two children and provide for them.

“I made a mistake and I am asking for a second chance to be there for my family, so I may succeed in life. My incarceration and stupid decisions have impacted this. I don’t want them to impact it any longer,” he said.

He said he would continue to strive to do “great things”, even if incarcerated again.

Roe told Spann he had considered his prior criminal history and behaviors while in the Ogle County Jail.

“There is a pattern here of violating court orders and not successfully completing probation,” Roe said.

Roe said he did not believe the calls to the victim from jail were made to restore a relationship.

“I believe that Mr. Spann is not making those phone calls to solve any kind of a relationship. The phone calls have to do with trying to get [the victim] to lie,” Roe said. “How is that salvaging a relationship? He’s trying to get her to lie in court. He’s trying to get her to not show up for court.

“What that is is harassment, it’s manipulation, it’s intimidation, of the victim in this case,” Roe said. “It’s similar to committing domestic violence. It’s furthering the cycle is what it’s doing,”

Roe commended the victim for making her statement to the court.

“Very difficult to do. She spoke of other incidents, other incidents of domestic violence – a cycle of violence. Different women, similar violence," Roe said. “It’s clear to me that the defendant is not particularly likely to comply with a period of probation.”

Roe said Spann had many opportunities to seek help and counseling while he was on probation, but instead, violated those orders and did not comply.

“Those were opportunities that were wasted,” Roe said, “Probation is about rehabilitation. Those were opportunities to get treatment, to get help. To get to the root of what brought you in the court system in the first place. Why you are you committing acts of violence against women in intimate relationships. That was the time to address that.”

He told Spann that he hopes he takes advantage of those services while serving his new prison sentence.

“It’s time to end the cycle,” Roe told Spann.

Because of Spann’s 2020 conviction in Lee County for aggravated domestic battery, he was eligible to be sentenced to 1 to 6 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Spann must serve 50% of the sentence and he will receive credit for 216 days already served in the county jail.