A Tampico man has been sent to prison for 8 1/2 years after pleading guilty to cocaine charges in separate cases. Eric J. Blackhawk, 43, formerly of Sterling, pleaded guilty in Whiteside County Circuit Court on Wednesday to unlawful delivery of cocaine on April 22, 2021, and May 28, 2024. Blackhawk has a criminal history that goes back several years and includes a prison sentence in connection with a May 2009 charge of delivery of cocaine near a school. BATF agents, along with officers from the Sterling and Dixon police departments, investigated and identified Blackhawk as a suspect, according to an ISP news release. A statewide grand jury indicted Blackhawk on Jan. 21, 2025, and he was subsequently charged with two separate counts of delivery of cocaine, a Class 1 felony.