A former Galena police officer pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to prison. 23-year-old Eli Barthel of Freeport was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to one felony county of child pornography. According to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Barthel was arrested in June after an investigation by their Office and the FBI. Investigators searched Barthel’s home and found evidence of child-sexual-abuse material.














