Illinois Woman Sentenced in Straw Purchase of Gun used to Kill Officer

A Normal, Illinois woman was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for her role in the death of a central Illinois police officer & the wounding of another officer during a shootout in Champaign on May 19, 2021.

Regina Lewis, 28, of Normal, Illinois, engaged in a conspiracy to buy & transfer the gun used during the shootout, according to the conviction in a release by the Central District of Illinois' US Attorney's Office.

Lewis was sentenced on Friday, December 22, 2023. She had previously admitted to conspiring with Ashantae Corruthers & Darion Lafayette to buy the gun in 2020 at an Indianapolis gun store for Lafayette, Lewis' cousin, who was a convicted felon and could not legally buy a firearm.

Corruthers falsely certified on a form for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that she bought the gun for herself. She later reported to Indianapolis police in 2021 that the gun had been stolen.

Lafayette fatally shot Officer Christopher Oberheim and wounded Officer Jeffrey Creel on May 19, 2021, after they responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex in Champaign.  Lafayette himself was also fatally shot during the shootout.

Corruthers, who is from Indianapolis, pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to defraud the government by buying and transferring the gun to Lafayette and covering up the transaction by falsely reporting its theft. Her sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 12, 2024.