July 11

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced today that a judge sentenced a Chicago man to 68 years in prison for gunning down another man in Plainfield in 2007.

A jury in March found Ricardo Gutierrez, 24, guilty in the shooting death of Javier Barrios on Oct. 28, 2007 near a Plainfield Meijer store. Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes sentenced Gutierrez Wednesday afternoon. He must serve 100 percent of his sentence.

Gutierrez shot Barrios twice in the back of the head after the victim ran for safety from his vehicle. Barrios fled because he already had been shot once in the right side by an alleged accomplice while he was sitting inside the car, according to trial testimony.

Barrios exited the vehicle and ran through a field near the shopping center with Gutierrez in pursuit. After Barrios collapsed face-forward on the ground, Gutierrez stood over him and shot him twice in the back of the head.  After the shooting, the defendant and co-defendant went to see the horror movie Saw IV.

“This ruthless killer executed a defenseless man in cold blood on a busy thoroughfare in Plainfield,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow.  “The sentence handed down by Judge Policandriotes effectively takes a dangerous murderer off our streets for the rest of his life.”

Assistant State’s Attorneys Frank Byers, Tricia McKenna and Dan Walsh secured the conviction and sentence. The case was investigated by the Plainfield Police Department.

Another defendant, Gabriela Escutia, 24, also faces charges of first-degree murder in connection with this case. The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office reminds the public that charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

July 8

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a Mokena man today pleaded guilty to aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol in connection with a 2011 collision that caused the deaths of two elderly women near Peotone.

Joseph E. Slattery, 27, of 20016 Lakeview Way in Mokena, faces between six and 28 years in prison when he is sentenced by Circuit Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak on July 26.

Slattery was driving in his Chevrolet Cavalier while intoxicated around 8 p.m. on Aug. 28, 2011 on LaGrange Road just north of Wilmington-Peotone Road when he veered over the center line and struck another vehicle with three occupants.

The driver of the other vehicle, Margaret Simons, 72, was pronounced dead at the scene. Another passenger, Suzanne Thompson, 92, who was Margaret Simons’ mother, suffered severe bilateral pelvic fractures and was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, where she was pronounced dead three hours after the crash.

The third passenger, Ralph Simons, who was 42 at the time, suffered a fractured left hip and left hand and was hospitalized for 13 days. Ralph Simons is an adult with special needs who lives in a residential care facility.

At the time of the crash, Slattery was driving with his girlfriend and their 18-month-old son. The child was treated at St. Mary’s for a facial abrasion and contusion; the mother appeared unharmed. An empty carton of Bud Light was found in the vehicle, although there were no actual containers in the car.

The defendant’s blood-alcohol level was .092 shortly after the accident and a blood test for opiates was positive. Slattery admitted to taking a friend’s Vicodin two nights before.

June 28

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow announced that a Rockdale woman was sentenced to eight years in prison for drunken driving after she struck and killed a bicycle rider last year.

Cara G. Quiett, 32, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class 2 felony that carries a penalty of three to 14 years in prison. Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak sentenced Quiett on Friday.

Quiett was driving on Midland Avenue in Rockdale on June 6, 2012 when she veered into James Farmer who was riding his bicycle home from work. Farmer was taken to the hospital, but he died from his injuries two weeks after the collision.

The defendant refused to perform field sobriety tests, and she initially resisted attempts by police and nurses to draw her blood by curling up into a ball on the floor at the hospital. Joliet Police and the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office secured a search warrant to draw her blood. Five hours after the collision, her blood-alcohol level was recorded at .148.

Quiett, who had a prior DUI conviction in 2006, took a vacation to Key West while Farmer was on life support at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in the last two weeks of his life, according to evidence presented at her sentencing hearing. She posted pictures from her Florida trip on Facebook.

State’s Attorney Glasgow credited Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Regis for securing a conviction and sentence that takes a dangerous drunken driver off our streets.

June 11

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a British citizen who is a permanent resident of the United States has been arrested and charged with Indecent Solicitation of a Child.

Charles F. Bocock, 35, who lives in the 4100 block of North Tripp in Chicago, was arrested Monday at the conclusion of a three-week investigation headed by State’s Attorney Glasgow’s High Technology Crimes Unit in conjunction with the Plainfield Police Department, the Naperville Police Department and the Chicago Police Department as well as the Illinois Crimes Against Children Task Forces from both Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s offices.

The investigation was launched after Bocock responded to an advertisement on craiglist.com posted by a Plainfield resident who was seeking monetary help to make his car payment. The Plainfield resident contacted police after receiving Bocock’s response. Investigators from the High Technology Crimes Unit assumed the Plainfield resident’s Internet identity.

Bocock arranged with undercover detectives for a rendezvous with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl. The defendant was arrested at a Plainfield Dunkin’ Donuts in the 13300 block of Illinois 59 on Monday afternoon.

The Indecent Solicitation of a Child charge alleges Bocock, with the intent of committing the offense of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault, used a cellular telephone to solicit a child under the age of 17, which was actually the 12-year-old female persona used by investigators from the High Technology Crimes Unit. The charge is a Class 1 felony that carries a penalty of four to 15 years in prison upon conviction.

Bocock also was charged with:

• Traveling to Meet a Minor, Class 3 Felony. The charge alleges he traveled to Plainfield “for the purpose of engaging in the offense of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child” with the girl he believed to be 12-years-old.
• Unlawful Grooming, Class 4 Felony. The charge alleges he used a cellular phone to solicit the girl he believed to be 12-years-old to engage in an act of sexual penetration.

Investigators executed a search warrant at the defendant’s Chicago house and seized his computers. The case remains under investigation by the ICAC Task Forces.

Bocock appeared in court Tuesday afternoon where bond as set at $1 million. He must post $100,000 or 10 percent to secure his release while he is awaiting trial. As a condition of his bond, he also must surrender his passport, not have contact with anyone under 18 and not use the Internet. His next court date is July 2 at the Will County Courthouse, 14 W. Jefferson Street in Courtroom 405.

The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office reminds the public that charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

May 24

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a Joliet man has been charged with multiple counts of child pornography after a search warrant was executed at his apartment in the 200 block of Madison Street early Thursday morning.

David Vaksdal, 45, was charged formally with eight counts of child pornography on Friday afternoon. The charges are all Class X felonies that carry a penalty of nine to 30 years in prison with no option for probation upon conviction. He faces a minimum of 72 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Bond was set at $5 million during a court hearing on Friday afternoon. Vaksdal must post 10 percent, or $500,000 to secure his release while he is awaiting trial.

The case against Vaksdal was initiated by Will County State’s Attorney Glasgow’s High Technology Crimes Unit and investigated in cooperation with the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Joliet Police Department.

Glasgow established the High Technology Crimes Unit in 2012 to target predators that produce, download and trade illegal child pornography over the Internet as well as those who are actively trying to arrange meetings with children. The unit has launched roughly three dozen investigations that have resulted in felony charges over the past 18 months.

Vaksdal’s computers were seized Thursday during the execution of the search warrant, which was signed by Judge Sarah Jones.

Vaksdal had been convicted by the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office in Will County Circuit Court and by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in U.S. District Court in Kansas of trading child pornography following an investigation and charges into his Internet activities in the late 1990s. He was sentenced to a total of eight years in prison.

The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office reminds the public that charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.