Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog

January 6, 2021

Woman Steals $2.3 Million From Employer to Fund Side Gig

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

This is America, where everyone has a job and everyone has a dream. The idea is to work the job until you can make the dream come true. That happened for one Illinois woman, but federal prosecutors say that the money she used to fund her dream was embezzled from her place of employment. She is now facing federal charges for the theft of $2.3 million.

72-year-old Mildred Crowley is accused of embezzling money from her employer to fund her horse farm. She is not the first to be charged with such a crime. In fact, horse farming is rife with companies that have funded their coffers on the ill-gotten gains of fraud and theft.

Criminal Enterprises: Horse Breeding and Horse Farms

January 1, 2021

Police Say Suspect Grabbed for an Officer’s Gun

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A man who was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery grabbed for the arresting officer’s gun, police say. Unsurprisingly, Mario Castro appeared before the criminal court judge with a black eye and his arm in a sling. The judge entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of the defendant and assigned him a public defender.

According to the police report, Castro body-slammed his girlfriend and punched her in the face over an argument concerning a phone. Police were called to the home at 7:30 p.m. The victim told police that Castro made “rude comments” about her children so she demanded that he leave. She told police that Castro responded by body-slamming her in front of her children.

Castro left the apartment before police arrived but returned later and the police were called again. At about 8:10 p.m., they arrived at the scene, again too late. This time, Castro had taken the woman’s cellphone and punched her in the face. Castro came back a third time, and police found him hiding in a pantry closet. Castro was asked to step out and did but he pulled away from police when they asked him to put his hands behind his back. Castro was taken down, still struggling. He managed to grab a gun magazine and strike the officer in the arm with it. He then attempted to remove the gun from the officer’s holster but was repelled in the attempt. Eventually, the police tased Castro, but the taser was not enough to prevent him from continuing to struggle. Eventually, police were able to get him in handcuffs, but Castro continued to struggle, so they sprayed him with pepper spray.

December 30, 2020

Chicago Police Officer Punches Gaming Official

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A Chicago police officer has lost her badge after a drunken altercation at Horseshoe Casino. Lori Ann Cooper has been charged with battery against a public official. Yes, gaming officials are public employees, just like police officers. She has been charged with one felony, battery on a public official, and three misdemeanors, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct, and public intoxication. The Chicago police announced that Cooper had been stripped of her badge pending the outcome of the investigation, but it does not look good.

What Happened?

Off-duty police officer was working security at the casino. He responded to a call that a casino employee had been battered in one of the bathrooms by an intoxicated female casino-goer. When he arrived, the employee declined to press charges and did not appear injured. Nonetheless, Cooper and her friend were asked to leave the premises. According to security personnel, as Cooper and her friend attempted to exit the premises, they began fighting with each other.

December 25, 2020

Judge Vacates Conviction After Man Spends 30 Years Behind Bars

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A Cook County Judge has vacated the conviction of Chicago man, Jackie Wilson, who was framed and convicted for the murders of two Chicago police officers. Wilson maintained that he was just an innocent bystander and it was his brother who had pulled the trigger. Wilson alleged that he was tortured and framed and maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. In addition to vacating Wilson’s conviction, the judge ordered a special prosecutor to investigate whether or not the prosecutor who convicted Wilson perjured himself or suborned perjury from a witness.

Suborning Perjury and Perjury

Perjury is simply lying under oath. You make a claim that you know is false and present as true to a judge and jury. Defense attorneys and prosecutors both have a duty to uphold the law. Even as defense attorneys, we cannot knowingly place a client on the stand whom we know is guilty and allow that individual to make false claims before the court. When a defendant commits perjury, a second investigation is sometimes initiated into the lawyer who placed that witness on the stand. If it can be determined that the lawyer knew that their client was going to misrepresent the truth, then they are not only guilty of a disbarrable offense, but also a felony.

December 23, 2020

Former Police Officer Investigated for Child Porn

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A former Rolling Hills police officer is under federal investigation after authorities discovered that the man had been using an online dating app to either get underage girls to send him pornographic pictures of themselves or arrange to have sex with these girls. While the investigation has yet to lead to any charges, a 2019 affidavit seeking to search the former officer’s home was unsealed recently. The affidavit appeared to contain transcripts of conversations between the defendant and underage girls offering money for sex.

The officer was linked to an account on the dating site Seeking Arrangements which had several complaints filed against it for child exploitation. The website markets itself as a “Sugar Daddy” website on which ostensibly younger women can find rich older men. Why such a site would allow minors to have accounts in the first place is another matter for consideration. The officer’s account was closed after the complaints were filed against him. While the officer has resigned from the police force amid the allegations, he is not named in the news due to the fact that he was not charged with any crime.

How Was the Officer Caught?

December 18, 2020

Police Still Running Down Suspects for Summer Looting

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Amid the George Floyd and Brianna Taylor protests, social unrest plagued America’s largest cities. Chicago was no exception. While some of these protests were going on, others took the opportunity to engage in burglary, theft, and destruction of property. Droves of people went block after block, looting one store after another. Four months after, detectives are still going over hour after hour of surveillance footage to identify individuals against whom they can file charges.

The police force is asking for tips on identifying suspects who were seen on camera looting Chicago stores. At the writing of this article, there have been over 1,300 tips based on over 100 clips of footage excavated from security feeds. Likewise, they have been monitoring online retail platforms like Craigslist, eBay, Amazon, and Facebook marketplace to determine if any of the stolen merchandise was placed for sale online.

The effort has resulted in the arrests of over 100 people. Most are felony charges related to theft, looting, destruction of property, fencing stolen goods, and weapons charges.

December 16, 2020

Investigation Begins Into Man Shot While Running From Police

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

In Georgia, if you and your friends are committing some crime, get spotted, and run, you can be charged with murder if a police officer pulls the trigger and kills one of your friends. In fact, all of your friends who were there at the scene can be charged with your friend’s murder even though they never pulled the trigger.

In Illinois, we do things a little differently. Firing wantonly at fleeing suspects is not considered a laudable act. In Chicago, we have a civilian oversight agency that investigates police shootings and when and if appropriate, files recommendations with the department for disciplinary action. This is where we are with the fatal shooting of Maurice Granton, Jr. who was killed by police in 2018 while attempting to flee. While the task force would not disclose the contents of their investigation and simply handed their recommendation over to the department, this is generally an indication that they found cause for disciplinary action and perhaps even criminal charges.

Meanwhile, Granton’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Chicago P.D. claiming that he was shot in the back while unarmed and posed no threat to police officers. His attorney claims that his hands were visible when the shot was fired. The family is seeking an undisclosed amount of money to settle the claim.

December 11, 2020

Chicago Sergeant Sues Wisconsin Police

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

It is not safe for anyone out there anymore. Even other police officers are being abused at the hands of the law. Perhaps this will be the wake-up call that everyone needs that the situation, as it stands, is untenable, unsustainable, and unjust.

Sgt. Jose Garcia was arrested in Wisconsin for “inappropriately touching” a 15-year-old girl. The girl was a family friend. Garcia said he was only horsing around in a water park pool with her and five other children, four of whom were his own.

The incident occurred in 2016. By 2018, Wisconsin prosecutors had dropped the sexual assault charges against Garcia, saying that they would be “unable to prove” the charges against him. Garcia’s records were expunged and sealed from the public.

December 9, 2020

G Herbo Facing Federal Fraud Charges

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Chicago rapper G Herbo has been charged in Massachusetts for using stolen identities to make illegal purchases. Purchases included trips on personal jets and designer puppies, according to the complaint. While rappers are not known for their white-collar prosecutions, identity theft is a major business in the criminal underworld. The 25-year-old Herbert Wright III is charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and aggravated identity theft. The following will take a look at what prosecutions for these crimes look like.

Who is G Herbo?

G Herbo was recently on The Tonight Show. He grew up in the South Side of Chicago, a neighborhood known as “Terror Town.” His frank lyrics about growing up in Chicago catapulted G Herbo into the forefront of the rap world. Makes you wonder why a guy like that would need to steal identities to fund his purchases of designer puppies and personal jet rides.

December 4, 2020

Man Stabbed to Death at Thanksgiving Dinner

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

The holidays are a stressful time, especially this year with so many facing an uncertain future. On top of that, COVID shutdowns are causing crime to spike all over the country, especially in major cities. Chicago is among the major U.S. cities that have seen spikes in crime during the quarantine. Meanwhile, economic recessions, counterintuitively, cause crime rates to go down.

But COVID has not behaved like an economic recession. In fact, the situation we are still enduring is unprecedented in the last 100 years. Still, the question remains: Why is crime spiking when fewer people are on the street?

Mental Health Issues