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Recent Blog Posts
Mount Prospect Man Sentenced for Sexual Assault
Herbert Burgess, 58, was convicted in early February in a Cook County Circuit Court of a Class X felony and sentenced to 24 years in prison. Burgess was accused of sexually assaulting a youth who worked for him, “the son of friends he had known for years,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Burgess was a former executive for a Buffalo Grove printing firm, and the assault of the young man occurred in Burgess’ residence on Lexington Drive. The 24-year sentence will be served concurrently, according to the Tribune, and includes 15 years for criminal sexual assault and three years for unlawful restraint. One of the key witnesses in the trial was a male who claimed on the stand that Burgess had molested him in 1978 after having been plied with alcoholic beverages.
According to the United States Bureau of Justice, sexual assault can be described for “a wide range of victimizations, separate from rape or attempted rape.” They usually involve attacks or attempted attacks, and usually involve unwanted sexual contact. Sexual assault can also refer to verbal threats. According to a Canadian Justice Department publication, a perpetrator of sexual abuse will “most likely be a friend or family member.” The specifics of the sexual assault in the Burgess case were not revealed to the media, though it was clear that he was an old acquaintance of his victim.
Cases Dropped Involving Schaumburg Police Officers
A drug bust of a storage locker in Carol Stream has led to further arrests of police officers from Schaumburg. The storage locker belonged to an informant who worked with the police. When he was taken into custody, he had a very interesting story to tell. He claimed that the police were supplying him with drugs seized from other drug dealers to sell on the streets.
The Carol Stream police investigated further and found that this was true. DEA agents arrested the cops outside of the Woodfield Mall on January 16th. John Cichy, Matthew Hudak and Terrance O’Brien were all tactical officers in the division that deals with drugs, gangs and other issues that require undercover work.
The police officers took drugs like marijuana, cocaine and cash from legitimate busts to make more money. Now the men are facing a multitude of felony charges which could mean decades in prison. The drug charges include manufacturing and delivering of illegal drugs, official misconduct, armed violence, theft, and criminal drug conspiracy.
Suspects accused of robbing, killing and attempting to dismember 2 friends in Illinois
A recent case of four young adults accused of strangling two of their friends and attempting to dismember their bodies will be prosecuted by the Will County state’s attorney because he said it is so “heinous.”
Investigators shared that when cops arrived at the house in which the victims’ lifeless bodies were found, three of the suspects were found playing video games.
Joshua Miner, 24; Alisa Massaro, 18; Bethany McKee, 18; and Ada, Landerman, 19, whose mother is a Joliet police sergeant, are facing first-degree murder charges.
According to police, the group phoned Eric Glover and Terrance Rankin, both 22, and invited them over to Massaro’s home before robbing and killing their own friends.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that according to authorities, the suspects wanted to dismember the men, but the Will County coroner said that the bodies were found whole.
Three members of new Illinois legislature facing criminal charges
Members of Illinois’s newest General Assembly recently took the oath of office. As the state still struggles to rebuild its reputation as two consecutive governors went to prison, Illinois set another precedent of sorts; three sitting lawmakers are currently facing criminal charges.
Most recently in headline news about politics and crime in its highest office, former governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted for attempting to sell Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat. Comparable circumstances cannot be recalled by experts or capitol veterans since the early 1970s, when several were rounded up for a bribery trial relating to cement trucks.
The allegations against each of the three lawmakers vary greatly from bribery, to bank fraud to trying to bring a gun onto a plane. Experts say, however, that although the charges differ, the accumulation and timing is very damaging to the state as it is already struggling to combat some of the most serious financial problems in its entire history.
Caregiver Sentenced to Prison for Stealing From Disabled Men
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a former house manager at Cupertino House, an assisted –living facility for disabled men, pled guilty to financial exploitation of a disabled person and received a sentence of 40 months in prison. The men were reimbursed for their financial losses through the facility’s insurance policy, and as part of her sentence, the former facility employee was ordered to repay the funds to the insurance policy. With expected time cuts, the woman could serve as little as 18 months in prison. The woman had no criminal history prior to this case.
A 37-year-old divorced and mother of three pled guilty last year to taking almost $9,000 from the facility’s five male residents through a series of bank card withdrawals. She blamed her actions on financial troubles that she had been experiencing at the time. The woman had worked at the facility for 12 years, caring for and teaching everyday living skills to the men living at the facility, all of whom have the approximate functional capacity of a 10-year-old.
Man Charged with Animal Cruelty Refuses to Give up Dogs
According to a report by 89 WLS, Jarcivius Taylor refuses to give up the dogs that he has been accused of abusing. The dogs were found to be severely emaciated and malnourished. Police believe that the dogs were being used in an underground dog fighting ring.
According to law enforcement, they were given an anonymous tip by a neighbor reporting that he was abusing animals at his residence. Upon the execution of a search warrant, they found two severely injured dogs. There was one female and one male dog who both had what were described as gruesome injuries. Both of them had deformed front legs, wounds that were still open and a myriad of old scars. All of these injuries are indicative of dog fighting. The female dog was extremely underweight and doctors stated that she showed signs of overbreeding. Her paws were stained by urine which proves that she was forced to stand in her own filth for extended periods of time. She is in such bad shape that she may need to be euthanized.
Woman Driving Home from Funeral Arrested for DUI
Four women were on their way home from a funeral early on Wednesday night. The driver, Cindy Giron, claimed that they were being ‘chased’ by a vehicle which caused her to hit a concrete planter box that divided the road. They were driving east on Madison Street and just passing Bishop at 12:50 am when the single car accident occurred.
The damage done to Giron’s car made it not drivable. The police who responded to the scene noticed all the girls were out of the car, including Giron’s sister who was lying flat on the pavement, which had Giron visibly shaken. She continually asked the officers what she “did to her sister” and questioned if her sister was going to die while crying uncontrollably. Luckily, no one involved was seriously hurt although they were transported to local hospitals.
As the authorities were cleaning up the accident and assessing the damage done, they came across a gallon jug of Carlo Rossi wine which was three quarters empty. The women had also had been drinking wine earlier in the night at the funeral. When Giron was tested, her blood alcohol level was 0.246, which is over three times the legal limit of .08.
Woman Driving Home from Funeral Arrested for DWI
Four women were on their way home from a funeral early on Wednesday night. The driver, Cindy Giron, claimed that they were being ‘chased’ by a vehicle which caused her to hit a concrete planter box that divided the road. They were driving east on Madison Street and just passing Bishop at 12:50 am when the single car accident occurred.
The damage done to Giron’s car made it not drivable. The police who responded to the scene noticed all the girls out of the car. Including Giron’s sister who was lying flat on the pavement, which had Giron visibly shaken. She continually asked the officers what she “did to her sister” and questioned if her sister was going to die while crying uncontrollably. Luckily, no one involved was seriously hurt although they were transported to local hospitals.
As the authorities were cleaning up the accident and assessing the damage done, they came across a gallon jug of Carlo Rossi wine which was three quarters empty. They also had been drinking wine earlier in the night at the funeral. When Giron was tested, her blood alcohol level was 0.246, which is over three times the legal limit of .08.
Five Indiana Men Sentenced in Tinley Park Attack
Brothers Dylan, Cody and Jason Sutherlin along with two other members of the Hoosier Anti-Racist Movementdecided to drivetogether to Tinley Park to confront a group of alleged white supremacists. The brothers along with Alex Struck and John S. Tucker wanted to go to a local restaurant to peacefully protect the meeting yet the scene erupted in violence. Surveillance footage showed at least 18 men enter the Ashford House brandishing weapons and wearing masks. After the attack, these five men were arrested as part of the mob in the May 19th melee.
Altogether, each of the men were charged with 37 separate felony counts including aggravated battery, property damage and mob action. The prosecution was pushing for maximum sentencing on the most serious charge of armed violence. All five decided to enter guilty pleas to reduce the counts from 37 down to 3.
One of the news criminal laws for Illinois
With a new year comes new laws, and this year there are a number of laws working in different parts of the legal field. Since this is a criminal defense blog, we will introduce a new criminal law, which, in this case, is an amendment to an older statute. The law in question sets new rules on eavesdropping when investigating a felony drug violation case.
For those who want to read through a bureaucratic summary of the bill, here is a link to Illinois General Assembly’s information about the new law.
The core idea in the bill is that law enforcement officers can eavesdrop with an eavesdropping device when they are investigating a felony drug violation case if they get permission from the state’s attorney. However, one of the participants in the recorded conversation has to be an officer or acting under instructions from a law enforcement officer. The officer or instructed person also has to have consented to the recording taking place.
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