Thomas W. Patton has been appointed to a four-year term as the new federal defender for the Central District of Illinois. Patton has been the assistant federal defender for the Western District of Pennsylvania since 2000 and, prior to that, was an assistant federal public defender in Springfield. The position in the Central District opened up for an appointment from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year after Jonathan E. Hawley became a magistrate judge. Originally from Henry County, Patton, 46, went to …