Wilmington Man Pleads Guilty To Violent Crimes, Ends Up At Big Muddy Correctional Center

WILMINGTON, IL —Wilmington man Carl Ellis, 33, is now doing hard time — again. After spending eight months in the Will County jail, Ellis worked out a plea agreement with the Will County State's Attorney's Office to resolve all of his pending criminal cases, dating back as far as July 2021 to his newest ones from last October.

Although Ellis received two seven-year prison sentences in the Illinois Department of Corrections from Will County Judge John Connor, Ellis caught a break. He can serve both of his sentences at the same time, not one after the other.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Ellis will remain at Big Muddy Correctional Center until at least Nov. 30, 2027, which is his projected parole date. The sentencing order shows Ellis received credit for a total of 464 days in the Will County Jail or on electronic monitoring, and he only has to serve his seven-year prison term at 50 percent.

In recent years, Ellis was in and out of the Will County jail for a host of crimes.

RELATED: Wilmington's Carl Ellis Remains Jailed After Knocking Woman Out, Destroying His Ankle Bracelet: Prosecutors.

Last October, Patch reported that Ellis was accused of destroying his electronic monitoring device, harming a woman by knocking her unconscious and taking the woman's 1-year-old child away from her. The child was eventually found safe.

According to prosecutors, the Will County Sheriff's Office responded to Ellis' residence in the 19500 block of West Goodwin Road, where the 28-year-old female victim told deputies she resides there with Ellis and their their 1-year-old daughter, as well as the woman's grandmother, who "lives on a structure on the property and not in the actual residence."

Deputies realized the victim was frantic and had a swollen eye, red marks and bruises starting to form. She said Ellis hit her, took their child and left. The child's great-grandmother was also frantic, court files show, because she feared Ellis would harm his 1-year-old child.

The child was later found safe, police said.

The victim told deputies that she and Ellis were arguing about cell phones and that he took her cell phone and smashed it and in retaliation, she took Ellis' phone and smashed it. Ellis placed his 1-year-old daughter down and remarked, "Better call the cops because (she) is never seeing her kid again," prosecutors revealed.

Next, Ellis grabbed the child's mother and forced her to the ground and then he struck her, "which caused (her) to black out," court records alleged.

As for the electronic monitoring device, authorities went to a property in the 24800 block of Old Chicago Road and learned the device was removed by Ellis.

When Will County Pretrial Services turned on the audible alarm, they found the device down a gravel road on the west side of Old Chicago Road.

"The device appeared to be destructively removed at the locking mechanism," prosecutors noted.

In April, Joliet Patch reported that Will County Judge John Connor, who often utilizes the SAFE-T Act to jail criminal defendants accused of violent crimes, rejected a motion submitted by Ellis' downtown Joliet lawyer, Cosmo Tedone. Tedone's motion stated in part, "the defendant wishes to modify his pretrial release conditions to be able to begin a 12-step outpatient treatment program with Abraxas Family Services."

According to one of Ellis' two recent plea bargains, Ellis pleaded guilty to his July 2021 charge of possession of controlled substances. "Defendant vehicle was stopped for suspended vehicle. Defendant had 15 to 100 portions of LSD," the plea bargain shows.

As for his October 2025 case, Ellis pleaded guilty to domestic battery with multiple priors. "Defendant struck his wife and has three prior convictions for domestic battery."

He will mark his 34th birthday on Oct. 25 at Big Muddy.