Reggie Allen to be sentenced next month for mob action linked to 2009 death

Reggie Allen, a 32-year-old strip club bouncer, is scheduled to be sentenced in St. Clair County Court on Feb. 19 on one felony count of mob action; he threw a large rock through the window of a car leading to a melee in which a St. Louis man was run over and killed.

The death of Anthony Rice occurred in October 2009, and Allen was originally charged with reckless homicide involving the way he allegedly drove a pickup truck that prosecutors said ran over and killed Rice.

But problems with the reckless homicide case, and the length of the case that took two years to charge and then has dragged on for more than four years, led to a compromise between Allen’s lawyer Tom Daley of Belleville and State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly. The case is before Circuit Judge Jan Fiss.

Allen faces one to three years on the mob action conviction but aggravating factors, if accepted by Fiss, could lead to a sentence of six years. Fiss could also sentence Allen to probation. Allen has declined to comment on several occasions.

Rice’s family members strongly objected to the plea bargain. The victim’s father, Robert Rice, said in December following Allen’s guilty plea, “I am disgusted by the whole system, the way this went down.”

But an attorney for the Rice family, J. Justin Meehan of St. Louis, praised Kelly and his office for the handling of what Kelly has publicly said was a difficult case.

In his plea, Allen stated he threw a brick or stone through the windshield of a Monte Carlo that held Rice and his brother Aubrey and another male family member. A melee ensued during which the male family member fired warning shots into the air, which may have confused those in the parking lot including Allen who drove off in his pickup truck.

Two other felony counts from earlier this year where Allen was charged with aggravated battery and mob action in connection with a physical attack on a stripper at Miss Kitty’s club in Washington Park, owned by an Allen family member, were dropped. In that case, Allen and others were accused of beating the woman and trying to force her head into a toilet.

Allen, who remains free on bond, has a criminal history that includes 30 felonies and 22 misdemeanors but few convictions. He has previously been charged with throwing rocks through the windshields of cars occupied by women. He served an Illinois prison sentence for possession of anhydrous ammonia, a regulated substance used in the production of methamphetamine.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect sentencing date for Allen.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Reggie Allen to be sentenced next month for mob action linked to 2009 death."