A former Eastern student will serve a 12-year prison sentence for trafficking cocaine.

According to circuit court documents, Paul D. Gherke, 22, whose last recorded address was 703 Tenth St. in Charleston, was being charged with two counts of controlled substance related felonies for his March 6 arrest.

The charges included one count of unlawful controlled substance trafficking and one count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

Gherke waived his right to a jury trial Oct. 14 and received a bench trial Oct. 16.

Gherke pleaded guilty to the trafficking count, which states the defendant “knowingly caused to be brought into this state with the intent to deliver herein approximately 45.1 grams of a substance containing cocaine.”

This Class X felony holds a punishment of 12-60 years imprisonment with the Department of Corrections.

Defense attorney Lonnie Lutz said Gherke’s guilty plea for the first count abolished charges for the second count.

The second count said Gherke “knowingly delivered 15 grams or more but less than 100 grams of a substance containing cocaine to an Illinois State Police confidential source.”

That Class X felony carries six to 60 years imprisonment with the Department of Corrections and a maximum fine of $500,000.

Gherke had 20 months remaining on a two-year prison term at Shawnee Correctional Center in Vienna when sentenced to 12 years by Charleston Circuit Court Judge Mitchell Shick.

His prior conviction was for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, which occurred in Champaign County Aug. 7.

“Those sentences were basically merged together,” Lutz said. “He received credit against the Coles County case for his time in custody with the Department of Corrections.”

Gherke was a computer information systems major.

City Editor Carly Mullady can be reached at [email protected].