Articles filed under Hitzeman, Harry

• Kane County State’s Attorney puts diversion information up front May 12, 2013 12:00 AM
  The Kane County State's Attorney's Office wants to make sure first-time offenders get the information they need for a possible second chance. The office recently consolidated information about the county's five pretrial divesion programs onto its website.
  

   

• Wonder Lake man loses appeal to manslaughter conviction Apr 28, 2013 12:00 AM
  An appellate court panel has rejected an appeal from former McHenry County man, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison for fatally beating and raping his girlfriend in the summer of 2009. Thomas Brown, 43, unsuccessfully argued the victim gave "implied consent" to have sex because she never told him no.
  

   

• Kane state’s attorney names first two-time prosecutor of year Apr 19, 2013 12:00 AM
  The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office recently honored three employees for their work in 2012, including Pam Monaco as Prosecutor of the Year, an award she also earned in 2008. Police Liaison Linda Hagemann was named Employee of the Year and Assistant State’s Attorney Megan Matuska was the recipient of the Ace of Spades Award for excellence in the courtroom. Monaco is the first two-time winner of the award in Kane.
  

   

• CASA looking for a few good men Apr 14, 2013 12:00 AM
  Although about half of the children it serves are boys, only 20 percent of CASA Kane County's volunteers are male. The agency is out to change that this month with three recruiting sessions called "Looking for a Few Good Men." The first takes place Monday in Elgin.
  

   

• Kane election complaint hotline in full effect for Tuesday Apr 7, 2013 12:00 AM
  When votersl go to the polls Tuesday to choose local leaders,the The Kane County State's Attorney's Office will be ready to respond to complaints about electioneering and other possible election law violations through its hotline from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  

   

• Court upholds Aurora man’s child abduction conviction Mar 31, 2013 12:00 AM
  A 64-year-old Aurora man has lost his bid to have a court overturn his conviction for trying to lure a child from a grocery store in 2009. An appellate court panel recently upheld the guilty verdict and three-year prison term for Stephen P. Sweigart for felony child abduction.
  

   

• Litigation over Mooseheart basketball players winds down Mar 24, 2013 12:00 AM
  Mooseheart High School’s run in the state high school basketball tournament may be over, but litigation involving the eligibility of three Sudanese basketball players is continuing. Officials are due in court in June and should know by then whether the Illinois High School Association has granfathered them in as eligible to compete in coming years.
  

   

• Courtroom cameras coming soon to Kane County Mar 17, 2013 12:00 AM
  Officials in the 16th Judicial Circuit in Kane County hope to send their plan for cameras in the courtroom to the Illinois Supreme Court by the end of March. The plan needed further review after a new chief judge was named and officials are ironing out requirements to notify parities in cases that the media has requested extended coverage.
  

   

• Aurora police chill out for Special Olympics Mar 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  Aurora Police Officer Lisa Carter was one of more than 400 people who jumped in frigid waters this month for a good cause. "Once you get in, it's not so bad," she said of the 10th annual Special Olympics Law Enforcement Polar Plunge at Silver Springs State Park in Yorkville that raised nearly $93,000.
  

   

• More honors for Aurora officers who helped free wrongly convicted man Feb 24, 2013 12:00 AM
  Aurora Police Investigators John Munn and Darrell Moore recently were named Co-Employees of the Year for their work to free a man serving a 70-year prison term after being wrongly convicted of murder. "You took it upon yourselves to correct the situation and an innocent person was rightfully set free," Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas told the investigators.
  

   

• Man gets 10-year sentence for his 11th DUI Feb 22, 2013 12:00 AM
  A 42-year-old former West Chicago man will have years to sober up and think about how his failure to put down the bottle has cost him his freedom. Michael J. Picon recently was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to an April 2012 DUI — his 11th in the last 20 years in DuPage, Kane and Rock Island counties.
  

   

• Kane County crime down, child support collection up Feb 17, 2013 12:00 AM
  The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office is expected next month to complete its 2012 annual report, but some early figures are in and they are encouraging. Two trends so far: Prosecutions are down and child support payment collection is up.
  

   

• Man pleads guilty to drug charge, won’t get alligator back Feb 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  A Cary man lost his five-foot long alligator after an October 2011 drug bust, but is getting another chance to move forward without a felony conviction. Nicholas R. Cosmano, 27, recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor marijuana possession and was sentenced to a year of conditional discharge, 40 hours community service, random drug tests, counseling, drug addiction treatment, and fined $4,400, court records show.
  

   

• Restitution clock ticking for former Kane elections chief Feb 3, 2013 12:00 AM
  A disbarred attorney who was once tapped to run elections in Kane County has a little over two weeks to cough up $14,000 or risk possibly spending jail time for indirect contempt of court. David Bruun, 72, of Elgin Township, was sentenced to eight years prison after being convicted of bilking an elderly man out of a $500,000 trust in 1998. He has been ordered by Judge James Hallock to pay a $14,000 lump sum to get current on restitution payments owed to the victim, records show.
  

   

• More kudos for North Aurora police officer Jan 27, 2013 12:00 AM
  Congratulations to Mark Shillair, who was named the North Aurora Police Officer of the Year for 2012 by the village's Lion's Club. Shillair is credited with saving a 33-year-old man who threatened to jump off an overpass and into oncoming traffic on Interstate 88 after a domestic dispute.
  

   

• McHenry County man wins appeal, gets reduced sentence Jan 14, 2013 12:00 AM
  A McHenry County man convicted of residential burglary for stealing copper piping from a vacant Woodstock home will have his prison sentence reduced after an appellate court ruled that because the home was vacant, and its owners living out of state while trying to sell it, it does not qualify as a residence under state law. Brett A. Roberts, 38, instead will be resentenced to a lesser charge of burglary.
  

   

• Attorneys help Geneva first responders prepare for the worst Jan 13, 2013 12:00 AM
  An organization that helps first responders such as police officers and firefighters prepare living wills and estate planning hopes to hold another event this year in the Kane County area. About 50 to 60 attorneys volunteered their time recently in Geneva as part of the Wills for Heroes Foundation to provide police officers and firefighters with free legal services to prepare living wills and other estate preparations in case they are incapactitated or killed in the line of duty.
  

   

• Congrats to Aurora on murder-free milestone Jan 6, 2013 12:00 AM
  If no news is good news, then this is great news. Aurora, the state's second largest city, marked a milestone last week: the city went an entire calendar year without a murder for the first time since 1946, when its population was just 48,000.
  

   

• 22 years for gang member in Labor Day 2011 Aurora shootings Dec 23, 2012 12:00 AM
  An Aurora man who shot at supposed gang rivals in two separate attacks during Labor Day weekend in 2011 recently was sentenced to 22 years in prison.Kane County Judge David Akemann issued the prison term to Alejandro Rodriguez, 21, of the 1300 block of Indian Avenue, last week.
  

   

• Elgin drunken driver gets 5 years Dec 16, 2012 12:00 AM
  A repeat drunken driver from Elgin who authorities said was driving with a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit recently was sentenced to five years in prison by a Kane County judge. Holly M. Deihs, 34, of the 500 block of South State Street, was sentenced by Judge Marmarie Kostelny after pleading guilty to a fourth DUI, according to court records.