EUREKA, Ill. (WMBD) — An assistant state’s attorney in Peoria County who oversees juvenile abuse and neglect cases has been arrested in Woodford County for having a stolen firearm in her vehicle.
Kali Pray, 28, and her passenger, Drake Tharp, 23, of Creve Coeur, were both charged in Woodford County Circuit Court with possession of a stolen firearm and for not having a valid FOID card. Those charges carry a maximum sentence of up to seven years behind bars.
Anna Perales, a spokeswoman for the Peoria County State’s Attorney‘s office, said Pray had been on “administrative unpaid leave when this incident happened. We are reviewing the matter.”
Pray also faces a single charge of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon. That’s a felony that carries a possible prison term of up to 30 years in prison. Tharp is charged with a lesser version of that charge.
Both were still in custody at the Woodford County Jail as of midday Wednesday.
On Pray’s LinkedIn page, she posted in August 2023, that she was excited to be working in the juvenile division overseeing neglect and abuse cases.
On March 25, at about 1:30 a.m., the two were in a car that was headed west on U.S. Route 24 near Woodford County Road 2500 East. That’s about a mile west of El Paso., said Dennis Tipsword, the chief deputy of the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office.
Tipsword said the car was stopped for speeding and when the deputy walked up to the car, and could smell the “raw odor of cannabis” coming from the car.
A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of an unloaded Smith & Wesson .38-caliber handgun in the center console, Tipsword said. Check of the serial number indicated the gun had been reported stolen, he said.
Both were arrested and brought to the sheriff’s office.
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