Paroled killer charged with selling cocaine in Bloomington

Posted on November 3, 2017

Prosecutors charged Shaun Chaszar with selling cocaine to a Bloomington Police informant last month. He was released from prison less than a year ago after serving time for raping and killing a homeless woman in Bloomington in 1992. (McLean County Jail photo)

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A man released from prison late last year for a quarter-century old McLean County rape and murder is now charged with selling cocaine to a Bloomington Police informant last month.

Shaun Chaszar faces a half-dozen felony charges for two alleged drug deals. Some of the charges are the most serious Class X felonies because the drug deals allegedly happened within a thousand feet of a park and a church.

Chaszar was one of three men convicted of sexually assaulting and stabbing homeless woman Mal Chaplin in 1992.

Chaszar was sentenced at the time to 38 years in prison, but was paroled last December. Since then, he’s been arrested on a marijuana charge and for allegedly failing to register as a violent offender.

A prosecutor said Chaszar faces 9 to 96 years in prison if convicted on all the new charges.

Friday, McLean County Judge Pablo Eves set bond at $250,000, which means Chaszar has to come up with $25,000 to be released.

He also has to prove in a separate hearing that his bail money comes from legal sources.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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