People v. Waud

Following a plea of guilty to six counts of forgery, the defendant, William Waud, was convicted by the circuit court of Christian County and sentenced to concurrent terms of 1 to 10 years in the Illinois State Penitentiary. On appeal, the appellate court, in a two-to-one decision, affirmed the conviction but modified the sentence by reducing the maximum term from 10 to 3 years. (43 Ill. App. 3d 85.) We granted the defendant leave to appeal.

The sole issue raised is whether the trial court acted arbitrarily in refusing to grant probation.

While serving as a high school principal, the defendant…