Man convicted in Addison murder gets more time for contempt

A Joliet man convicted of an Addison murder faces additional prison time after pleading guilty to contempt of court charges Thursday for refusing to testify against a co-defendant who was subsequently acquitted of the same murder.

Prosecutors said Robert Meza, 23, was adhering to his street gang's code of silence last June when he refused to testify against Antonio Aguilar Jr., 21, who then stood accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Lorenzo Salazar-Cortez on Sept. 15, 2007.

Assistant State's Attorney Steven Knight said prosecutors will seek no more than 10 additional years in prison for Meza, who is already serving a 45-year term, after he admitted “serious direct criminal contempt” at an appearance before DuPage County Judge Kathryn Creswell. Knight said the law does not specify a sentencing range for the offense.

“It's not like a regular crime with a maximum or minimum,” he said. “It's whatever the court deems reasonable.”

Last week, Judge George Bakalis called Meza's refusal to testify a “serious loss” for prosecutors' case against Aguilar, also of Joliet, whom the judge found not guilty.

Prosecutors had expected Meza to testify that he and Aguilar, acting as members of a street gang, went to Addison early the morning of the murder to kill a rival gang member. Salazar-Cortez, an Itasca factory worker who lived in Berwyn and had no gang affiliations, was mistakenly shot through a window at his friend's apartment after the gunman opened fire on the wrong address, prosecutors said.

Meza was never accused of being the shooter, but was convicted under a state law that holds all participants in a felony accountable when the crime results in murder. He is scheduled for sentencing March 30 on the contempt charge.