Posted: Mar. 23, 2015 5:20 pm Updated: Apr. 6, 2015 6:14 pm

By DON O'BRIEN

Staff Writer | 217-221-3370

dobrien@whig.com | @DOBrienWHIG

QUINCY -- A Chicago man who prosecutors said was playing the "knockout game" was sentenced to probation Monday during a hearing in Adams County Circuit Court.

Lamar Coulter, 21, could have received up to four years in prison on a felony aggravated battery charge, but was sentenced to 24 months probation and 270 days in jail by Judge William Mays. This is Coulter's first felony offense. Mays ordered Coulter to spend 180 days in the Adams County Jail. With day-for-day good time credit, Coulter could be out in 90 days.

Coulter was arrested on June 27 after two separate incidents were reported to Quincy police. A 37-year-old Quincy man said he was attacked in the Seventh and Elm area around 6 p.m. Two hours later, two 18-year-old Quincy men were walking near 18th and Chestnut when they said they were both punched by one man who ran and fled the scene in a vehicle.

Coulter and Calvin L. Snell, 19, were arrested on charges of robbery. All three men who were attacked were released from Blessing Hospital following treatment.

First Assistant State's Attorney Gary Farha asked Mays to sentence Coulter to the maximum allowed under the plea agreement, a four-year prison term. Farha said Coulter and Snell were playing the "knockout game," an act where people try to knock out unsuspecting people.

"This certainly had all the earmarks of it," Farha said.

Coulter apologized for his actions during the hearing.

Farha said Coulter had no connections to Quincy. He said Coulter was visiting the area with Snell, who was planning to attend Quincy University. Farha said Snell was expelled from school. Snell was also scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, but was in the hospital. His sentencing was rescheduled for April 8.

Coulter was ordered to pay $14,796 in restitution to the victims. His bond of $3,000, which he posted on July 1, was applied to the restitution.