MARION COUNTY — Marion County prosecutors filed a burglary charge against a 61-year-old Salem man for an incident that reportedly happened just days before he robbed a Southern Illinois bank.

Earl Michael Morlan was charged Tuesday in Marion County Court with illegally entering D-J’s Party Supply at 1200 West Main on January 29, 2023, where he reportedly broke in through a side door of the business when they were closed. Once inside the building, he reportedly damaged a gaming machine, but according to the operators of the establishment, he didn’t take anything.

Two days later Morlan was in Zeigler where he robbed the Southern Illinois Bank in Zeigler at gunpoint. He was sentenced last week in federal court to eight years in prison for the bank robbery after he earlier pleaded guilty to the charge. Marion County law enforcement officers identified Morlan as the robber in a bank surveillance photo.

On Tuesday he was formally charged in Marion County Court with the alleged incident in Salem that was investigated by the Salem Police Department. He later pleaded guilty to the Class 2 felony charge and was sentenced to 3 years in prison to be served concurrently with his federal sentence. Morlan remains in custody in Franklin County where he’s still facing state charges in connection with the bank robbery.