Posted on November 11, 2016 in burglary

What happens to a person who was caught in the middle of committing a burglary? If the burglary was never completed, meaning you never had the chance to get away with anything you stole or were planning to steal, are you still charged with burglary?

Intent is All That is Required

In Illinois, there is no difference between attempted burglary and burglary, because under the law, all you need to have is the intent to steal from, or commit a felony in, a place where you are not authorized to be. You do not actually have to take anything, nor do you even have to attempt to take something from someone else’s property, in order to be charged with burglary. Simply having the intent to steal something, or to commit a felony, is enough.

Many criminal defendants wonder how intent can be proven. If you did not take anything, and you do not flat out admit that you were there to steal something, how will the police know that you ever had intent to take something? Police take burglary very seriously, and will investigate the scene of the crime to look for clues that indicate you may have had the intent to steal something before you were caught.

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 Posted on November 09, 2016 in Theft

Committing Identity Theft

When most people think of identity theft they think of cyber hacking. However, identity theft is not just a crime that is committed by high-tech cyber thieves.Identity theft can occurwhen a personuses another individual’spersonal identificationinformation,such as one’sname, Social Security number, driver’s license, passport, credit card number, or other financial information, withoutpermission, to commit fraud or other crimes.

Moreover,identity theft can becommitted bystealing an individual’smail and then completing credit card applications in the name of the victim.An identity thiefmay even open a new bank or a credit card account in a victim’sname or may change the mailing address of a victim’sexisting account so he or shecan use the accountwithout the victim’sknowledge. When athief uses anaccount without paying the bills, the delinquent accounts are noted on a victim’scredit report.

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 Posted on November 04, 2016 in Theft

Shoplifting is one of the most frequently committed theft crimes in Illinois. Shoplifting involves knowingly taking merchandise from a store without the intention of paying retail price for the item that is stolen. Shoplifting can take many forms, including taking physical possession of a retail item and removing it from a store without payment, altering or swapping out labels or price tags to get a desired retail item at a cheaper price, and swapping a retail item’s packaging for the packaging of another, less expensive item. If you have been charged with retail theft, regardless of whether it is a misdemeanor charge or a felony charge, you need to get in touch with an experienced retail theft criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.

When Retail Theft Rises to the Level of a Felony

Many people who engage in retail theft do notthink that the charges associated with their offense will be very serious. But this is a misconception. Even as a first-time offender, stealing something from a store that has a full retail value of more than $300 can result in a class 3 felony charge for retail theft.

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 Posted on November 02, 2016 in Illinois Laws

Countless people in Illinois get behind the wheel when they do not have a valid driver’s license. These drivers may have never obtained a driver’s license in the first place, could have a suspended driver’s license, or could have had their driving privileges revoked. According to a recent news article posted by WREX.com, far more Illinois drivers get behind the wheel without a valid driver’s license than onemight think.

What Motivates People to Drive Without a License?

According to the article, across the state of Illinois, state law enforcement have issued citations to more than 100,000 drivers who were behind the wheel while driving on a revoked or suspended driver’s license. Between the years of 2011 and 2015, there were more than 300,000 convictions for driving with a revoked or suspended driver’s license. Why are these numbers so high? Why do people choose to risk it and drive when they do not have a valid driver’s license?

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 Posted on October 27, 2016 in DUI/DWI

DUI checkpoints are common in Rolling Meadows and the surrounding areas. Law enforcement will setup a checkpoint—a temporary stop—to seeif a driveris intoxicated on drugs or alcohol while driving.However, theproblem with DUI checkpoints is that the police officers who man these stopsmaytake too many liberties when it comes to investigating potentially intoxicated drivers. Therefore, itis important to understand your rightsif you are stopped.

You Do Not Have to Answer Questions

Often,drivers do not realize that they are not required to answer a police officer’s questions when stopped at a DUI checkpoint. When a police officer asks where you wereearlier in the evening, or where you are going, you do not have to answer. Police officersaskthese questions to gather evidence against you, and you do not have to incriminate yourself. If you are not under arrest, then the police have no right to interrogate you. As such, you can politely decline to answer their questions at a DUI checkpoint.

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 Posted on October 25, 2016 in Drug Charges

Drug crimes are some of the most frequently committed criminal offenses in Illinois. One common drug offense is drug delivery. The possession of a drug with the intent to deliver is another very similar drug offense. These drug charges are often asserted against alleged drug dealers.

Illinois Drug Delivery Offense

When an illegal drug actually changes hands, the offense is referred to as a drug delivery offense. However, when illegal drugs do not change hands, yet the person who is in possession of the drug was likely to have delivered the drugs to another individualwithout beingintercepted by law enforcement,the offense is referred to as possession with the intent to deliver.

Drug delivery and possession with the intent to deliver are criminal offenses, regardless of the type of drug that iscaught in your possession. For instance, you may be caught with controlled substances such as heroin, cocaine, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens or prescription drugs—all illegal under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. You could also be charged with drug delivery or possession with the intent to deliver marijuana, under 720 ILCS 550/4 of the Cannabis Control Act, or methamphetamines, under 720 ILCS 646/55 of the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act.

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 Posted on October 20, 2016 in Theft

The crime of theft encompasses many different charges under Illinois law. Not only is it a crime to commit theft by being the person who knowingly takes property belonging to another without permission, which is the case in crimes such as vehicle theft or shoplifting, but it can also be a theft crime if you end up in possession of stolen property. Similarly, it is a crime to be involved in a complicated white collar theft or fraud plot, where you might not be the ringleader of the theft, but are still a beneficiary.

In Illinois, you can be charged with a theft crime even if you are not the person who took the property from its rightful owner. To say this another way, you do nothave to be the person who physically commits the theft act; you could be a beneficiary or recipient of stolen property or money and still be just as criminally liable as the actual thief.

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 Posted on October 18, 2016 in Juvenile Crimes

Teens and young adults sometimes make poor decisions. As a result, they mayend up being charged with a crime. Teens may even beinvolved in criminal activities on a regular basis when they are caught, or theymay be first-time offenders. If your teen is involved in a crime, speaking with a skilledcriminal defense attorney is essential.

Teens, Crime, and the Statistics

Manycrimes that are committed by juvenilesoccur while they are at school.For instance, according to a 2014 National Report on Juvenile Offenders produced by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, some frightening statistics about juveniles and crime while in school in Illinois include:

• 3.9 percent of juveniles questioned reported having taken a weapon to school with them within the past 30 days prior to being surveyed;
• 7.6 percent reported having been threatened in school by a weapon possessed by a classmate;

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 Posted on October 13, 2016 in Traffic Offenses

Foreign nationals who wish to come to the United States, either for work, school, or anotherpurpose, gain entry through a visa. Anumber of different types of visas are awarded based on the reason for the foreign national’s stay in the United States. However,there are also many restrictions on visas. If these restrictions are violated, one’s visa can berevoked by the U.S. government. For instance, a visa can be revoked if the visa holder is convicted of committing a crime in the United States.

Barred From Re-entry Into the U.S.

Being convicted of a criminal offense in the United States is often a violation of the terms of your visa. Therefore,if you leave the country and try and return to the United States, you will most likely be barred from re-entry into the United States by immigration officers at the airport, or via your port of entry. Moreover, youcould be denied entry into the United States for years.

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 Posted on October 11, 2016 in Vehicular Hijacking

Stealing a motor vehicle is a serious offense in Illinois. There are severaldifferent theft crimes that involve the unauthorized taking of a vehicle, and state prosecutors do not take kindly to criminal defendants who allegedly take things that do not belong to them. Theft crimes involving a vehicle include stealing a car, trespass to a motor vehicle, carjacking, and failure to return a rental vehicle. If you are facing criminal charges that involve the theft of a vehicle, you need to get in touch with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.

Stealing a Car

In Illinois there is no specific statute focused directly on the theft of a vehicle. Instead, when a car is stolen state prosecutors pursue the criminal defendant under the traditional Illinois theft statute. Car theft is committed when a person knowingly takes a vehicle belonging to another without permission and with the intent to deprive the vehicle’s owner of the use of the vehicle permanently.

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