URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - A man who incited a 2020 riot at Market Place Mall in Champaign has admitted to stealing from one of its stores.Â
Shamar N. Betts, 20, is the person who posted on Facebook on the morning of May 31, 2020 to try and get people to show up for a riot. He told people to bring items including "friends, family, posters, bricks, bookbags, etc."Â
Betts pleaded guilty to that crime in federal court. He was caught in June of 2020 after fleeing to Mississippi.Â
According to The News-Gazette, Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz told a judge that video captured by WAND News and Champaign police showed Betts entering an Old Navy store and leaving with stolen khaki pants. On Thursday, Betts pleaded guilty to a burglary charge, admitting to entering Old Navy with the intent to steal.Â
About three dozen people face state charges for rioting and looting-related crimes at the mall and at stores on North Prospect Avenue. These crimes, which left about 50 businesses damaged, followed the killing of George Floyd at the hands of then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.Â
On June 14, Betts will be sentenced in federal court for inciting the riot. In that case, he faces as much time as five years in prison and could get probation. His burglary sentence will be handed down on July 8, and the newspaper reports Rietz agreed to ask for no more than four years behind bars in that case. Betts could get probation in this case as well.Â
A second burglary charge alleging Betts stole from a Macy's has been dismissed.Â
