EX-PARAMEDIC MAKES PLEA DEAL

Husband Of Former Lincoln Officer Pleads Guilty To Making Drugs

LINCOLN - Former Logan County paramedic John Short - husband and
co-defendant of former Lincoln Police Cpl. Diana Short - pleaded guilty
Thursday to manufacturing drugs and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Just two days after his wife was charged with a thwarted conspiracy to
manufacture methamphetamine to raise bond money for the jailed Lincoln
couple, John Short appeared in court with his Springfield attorney Richard
Frazier. He pleaded guilty to growing hallucinogenic mushroom spores and 25
marijuana plants in the basement of their former home.

In a plea agreement with Logan County State's Attorney Tim Huyett, Short
agreed to plead guilty to a Class II felony for growing the marijuana and a
Class X felony for growing the psilocybin mushroom spores.

If convicted of controlled substance trafficking, Short, 41, faced 12 to 60
years in prison.

By pleading guilty Thursday, Short received the minimum sentence of six
years for the Class X manufacturing charge.

Huyett agreed to dismiss the remaining charges including: controlled
substance trafficking, a Class X felony; unlawful manufacture of marijuana
with the intent to deliver, a Class II felony; unlawful production of
marijuana plants, a Class III felony; and a misdemeanor charge for
possession of a firearm without a requisite firearm owner's identification
card.

Also Thursday, Diana Short agreed to waive her right to a speedy trial and
continue her case until September.

Her defense attorney, Fredrick Schlosser of Springfield, tried Thursday to
withdraw from her case, claiming her indefinite incarceration prevents her
from paying her legal fees.

Schlosser said he was hired to represent Diana Short while she was still
released on bond and able to raise money.

Feeney denied Schlosser's motion to withdraw as counsel. He said it would
be inappropriate to allow an attorney to withdraw "on the eve of trial"
while the defendant is still in custody, especially because the conflict is
financial rather than personal.

Illinois State troopers raided the Shorts' former Lincoln residence in the
500 block of North Hamilton Street in December after a tip from an
unidentified source.

According to Huyett, John Short told police that he was a "master gardener"
and grew the marijuana for medicinal purposes. The mushrooms were
discovered later after digital pictures on a hard drive of the couple's
computer revealed the mushrooms spores on a time-stamped photo dated
two-months prior to the raid.

Diana Short, 46, remains in jail on $250,000 bond.

The latest charges filed against her involving the meth conspiracy include:
two counts of unlawful criminal drug conspiracy, one a Class X felony, the
other a Class I felony; unlawful possession of methamphetamine
manufacturing chemicals, a Class I felony; and solicitation, a Class II felony.

Short allegedly used a monitored jailhouse telephone to conspire with her
24-year-old daughter, Brianna D. Strohl, also of Lincoln a plan to provide
meth ingredients to a meth "cook" so Strohl could generate bond money.

Strohl also remains held in lieu of bond.