Posted on October 02, 2012 in Criminal Defense

Alberto Nunez offered a variety of dental procedures, including root canals, bite impressions, cleanings, dental surgery and braces, from his home office. Records show he was seeing about thirty patients a week for at least the past two years. Nunez’s dental office was equipped with a chair, lights, tools, syringes, an X-ray machine and more. There was only one thing missing – a license to practice dentistry.

That missing license has left Nunez charged with a Class 4 felony of practicing dentistry without a license and a misdemeanor unlawful possession of hypodermic syringes. He has been released on $10,000 individual recognizance bond.

Based on information from a tip, Special Operations Unit officers began an investigation into Nunez’s practice. According to a report in the Chicago Sun Times, when investigators tried to make an appointment with the 32 year old alleged dentist, they were told by office staff that there were no openings for at least a week because of the full schedule of patients already booked.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 30, 2012 in Criminal Defense

An Arlington Heights nurse’s assistant has been charged with stealing $25,000 worth of patients’ jewelry.  Police accuse Krisanne Henderson, 42, of stealing jewelry and other valuables from mentally and physically impaired clients in her care. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office reported she has been stealing from her patients for the past five years.

In January of this year, a man contacted police when several pieces of his wife’s jewelry went missing. According to WLSI-TV , the wife was hospitalized at the time the report was made and unable to give police a statement. A few months later, she contacted police and confirmed the theft, along with other information, including the names of several nurses’ assistants who had provided her with in-home health care. An investigation revealed that one of those assistants, Henderson, had pawned several items at Arlington Heights Jewelry and Loan after the thefts had occurred.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 27, 2012 in Criminal Defense

A man and a 12-year-old girl were shot in mid-September on Chicago’s South Side, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Both were wounded only in the leg, which makes both of them lucky as the victims of a drive-by shooting. According to the Sun-Times, the “girl was taken to University of Chicago Corner Children’s Hospital, while the man, 28, was taken to Stroger Hospital.” No further details are currently available, but police told the Sun-Times that detectives were investigating the case.

According to the Violence Policy Center, Illinois is one of the leading states for annual number of drive-by shootings. While this particular case has not yet been linked to streetgang violence, it most likely involves gang members. Gang violence remains high in the Chicago area. Of the total 549 nationwide drive-by shootings that occurred from July 2006 to December of that same year, Illinois had 24. Only Texas (56), Florida (57), and California (115) had higher numbers.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 23, 2012 in Assault & Battery

A southwestern Illinois man was charged Saturday with aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with a St. Louis teenager who told police she was held captive in his home for three years and conceived a child with him before escaping.

St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly said Saturday that 25-year-old Steven Elliot Johnson of Washington Park had sex with the teenager when she was underage, but would not comment on whether the evidence supports the teen's story of being held against her will.

Johnson was charged with a total of five crimes, including a felony count of promotion of prostitution, but Kelly would not say if that was related to the teenager. The other counts were two felony drug charges and a felony gun charge. He was being held in St. Clair County Jail on $2 million bond.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 20, 2012 in Assault & Battery

On Monday August 27^th, Governor Pat Quinn went to the Elgin High School to enact an important piece of legislature that will protect the safety of schools in Illinois.  The reason that the bill was signed in Elgin was to commemorate a teacher who was attacked by a student while trying to do her job.  This unfortunate attack would have been avoided if police departments communicated more with local school districts.

Four years ago, Carolyn Gilbert was grading papers at her desk.  A student in her class then threw a coat over her head and repeatedly stabbed her face with a steak knife.  Witnessses said that Angel Facio, then 16, did not stop wounding his teacher until the knife broke.  She lost sight in her left eye from the attacks and dedicated herself to come back to teaching.

Angel Facio was later found to be guilty of attempted first degree murder.  He was also found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a 9 year old.  Angel was under investigation for the latter sexual assault crime at the time he attacked his teacher.  The thought behind House Bill 5602 is to prevent this from happening again.  Before this new law, police departments would only share information about students if they were arrested or detained in connection with a crime.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 17, 2012 in Criminal Defense

An Illinois man is now charged with allegedly killing a woman and her unborn child at a Door County resort.

Brian Cooper, 35, faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one for third-degree sexual assault.

Last month, Cooper allegedly strangled 22-year-old Alisha Bromfield at a resort in the town of Nasewaupee, WI where the two were staying in the area for a wedding. According to the criminal complaint filed last Tuesday, Bromfield had wanted to break it off with Cooper and he "didn&t want to go home single."

When the two returned to their hotel room following the wedding, Alisha went to bed. The complaint says that Cooper was bothered by this "because she was being cold and indifferent." The document goes on to to say that Cooper watched Bromfield sleep for about two and a half hours. During that time he smoked cigarettes and drank beer.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 14, 2012 in Assault & Battery

A sex crime charge has been added to the case against a Centerville, Ill., man accused killing Southern Illinois couple a few weeks ago.

Formal charges against Danny K. Coston, 36, now include a felony charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault while armed with a firearm.

The body of Jessi Evans, 17 of Norris City, Ill., was found on the evening of Aug. 27. The body of her boyfriend, Jacob Wheeler, 22 of Centerville, was found the next Friday night.

In addition to the sexual assault charge, White County State’s Attorney T. Scott Webb has charged Coston with murder, aggravated battery through the discharge of a firearm and concealing a homicide.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 11, 2012 in Criminal Defense

The Chicago Sun-Times reported a story about a new policy that the Chicago police have recently started following. On July 17, the Chicago Police Department stopped releasing gang members from stations on no-cash bonds for misdemeanor arrests. If the suspects cannot make their bond amount, they will have to wait in jail until going to court.

To put it simply, the new policy follows a ”keep them locked up until they pay up” idea, which will allow the criminals to have a cooling-off period before returning to streets if they do not have the cash for their bond. The idea came from Chicago P.D. officers, says Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy. The officers had expressed concerns about gang members making it back to the streets after misdemeanor charges before the officers can finish their paperwork.

More than 1,300 gang members across the city have been denied no-cash bonds, which are also known as I-bonds or recognizable bonds, and for the suspects that do not possess enough cash for their bail, it means sitting behind bars for up to 48 hours at times.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 08, 2012 in Criminal Defense

An Illinois man, who was communicating with a 14-year-old girl on the Internet, is facing a second-degree felony charge after a sting operation by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office was completed in the Katy area Tuesday night.

James Wean Jr., 49, is charged with Attempted Aggravated Kidnapping after being arrested near a gas station in the 3500 block of Pin Oak at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012.

For the past two weeks, Wean has been communicating online with a Sheriff’s Office Special Crimes detective posing as a teenage girl. Wean drove to Texas from his home in Pearl City, Ill., which is a small town southwest of Springfield, Ill., near the border with Missouri.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 05, 2012 in Weapon Charges

McLean County State's Attorney Ronald Dozier has decided the current unlawful use of a firearm law is unconstitutional. He says his office will no longer prosecute people in trouble only for carrying a firearm and not for using it.

He states the Mclean County State's Attorney's Office will no longer enforce parts of the law that criminalizes law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights.

"I just simply commend him for coming forward with that," said Edwards County State’s Attorney Mike Valentine. On the same day, Valentine released a statement in support of Dozier, hoping Mclean County’s steps draw attention. "Every other state in the union has some sort of provision that allows citizens to bear arms,” said Valentine. “I believe all those other states can&t be doing something wrong."

Valentine states that he's reluctant to charge otherwise law-abiding people. However, he&ll use his discretion and continue to press charges on actions that break state law.

Continue Reading ››