Published: May 1, 2007
Local News: Public Safety
2nd date for taggers’ possible plea deal
ROCKFORD — The three Rockford men arrested last summer for slapping hip-hop
graffiti on anything from walls and windows to street signs and light fixtures
are considering a plea deal.
All three cases were before Judge Joe McGraw for possible plea agreements Monday
morning, but no pleas were entered. The men — Larry Barr, Ryan Lape and Joseph
Goral — are scheduled to reappear, again for possible plea agreements, June 15.
Barr, Lape and Goral face felony charges of criminal defacement to property. Two
of the men face up to three years in prison if found guilty. Lape faces up to
six years if found guilty because of a previous conviction for the same crime.
The state is seeking jail time and restitution as punishment for all three.
At the time of their arrest in August, officials called the men three of the
city’s most notorious “taggers,” which are people who put their signature names
or symbols in spray paint or acid on private and public property.
The men went by the monikers STER, JECT or JEKT, and STUK.