Sterling felon charged with trying to sell meth to Lee County deputies

DIXON – A Sterling man with a pending felony weapons case, who was convicted less than a year ago of threatening over social media to kill two Reagan Middle School students, was arrested Friday, April 5, this time accused of trying to sell meth to two Lee County deputies.

Blake A. Keane, 21, and an unidentified 15-year-old Morrison juvenile were arrested around 9 p.m. at the Magnuson Hotel, 443 state Route 2, according to a news release.

Keane is charged with meth delivery, which is punishable by three to seven years in prison, possession of fewer than five grams of meth and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, both of which carry two to five years, and possession of 30 to 100 grams of marijuana, a misdemeanor.

The boy, whom authorities will not identify because of his age, is charged with meth delivery and possession of fewer than five grams of meth.

Keane, who already is on pretrial release with a GPS monitor in a pending Whiteside County case in which he is charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon and misdemeanor possession of ammunition without a Firearm Owner’s Identification card, was released with an April 11 court date.

The boy was released to his parents.

Keane was arrested Feb. 8 on the weapons charge during a traffic stop in Rock Falls targeting a 17-year-old accused of shooting a woman in the leg, an incident to which investigators said Keane has no connection. He faces three to seven years on the felony. He has a pretrial hearing May 22.

He was convicted July 20 in Lee County Court and sentenced to to 2½ years of probation, but allowed conditional discharge, for threatening the Dixon middle-schoolers. Keane pleaded guilty to harassment through electronic communication, which could have brought him one to four years in prison. As part of a plea agreement, one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct was dismissed.

A petition to revoke his probation was filed the day before his arrest on the meth-dealing charges, because of the weapons charges that stemmed from the traffic stop. He has a hearing May 9 on the petition.

Keane threatened the students on Aug. 25, 2022, prompting a lockout of Reagan and Madison Elementary schools that afternoon. The threats were not random, the prosecution said.

Keane also was charged Sept. 26, 2022, in Bureau County Court with possession of ammunition without a Firearm Owner’s Identification card. He pleaded guilty July 26, 2023, to the misdemeanor and was fined $614. He failed to pay or to appear in court to explain the failure, so $184.20 was added to his tab and on Oct. 18 he was sent to a collections agency.

In other weapons-related cases, Keane was sentenced Nov. 10, 2022, in Whiteside County to 1½ years in prison for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

He was charged March 2, 2021, in that case with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, which also is punishable by one to four years, and two counts of possession of ammunition without a FOID card and possession of marijuana by a driver, both misdemeanors. Those charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement.

According to court records, that March 1, Keane – who previously was adjudicated a delinquent minor for an act that, had he been an adult, would have been a felony – had in his possession a Glock pistol and ammunition.

He also has a misdemeanor weapons conviction in Lee County, where he was charged July 19, 2021, with bringing brass knuckles to the 2021 Petunia Festival. He pleaded guilty May 6, 2022, and was fined $549, court records show. The bond he posted in that case was used to pay the fine.

There was no evidence the two Lee County cases were related, Lee County Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Brim said at the time.