Crime commission to honor prosecutors
Thirteen Kane County prosecutors will be recognized tonight for their role in a joint FBI and Aurora police cold case investigation that netted 32 murder suspects.
They will receive the Stars of Distinction Award for Task Force Investigation and Prosecution from the Chicago Crime Commission.
The operation, dubbed "First Degree Burn," began in 2004.
Overall, authorities believe they have solved 22 homicides committed by gang members.
Two have been convicted already; the rest are awaiting trial.
Different prosecutors from the office of Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti presented evidence to a grand jury last spring.
Barsanti said his office was honored for the recognition.
He also doled out special thanks to Assistant State's Attorney Nemura Pencyla for volunteering to coordinate all the documents and discovery evidence for each defendant and their attorneys.
"There were all these logistics (Pencyla) had to take care of, and he did it quite smoothly," Barsanti said.
In addition to Barsanti and Pencyla, the prosecutors are: Clint Hull, Jody Gleason, Sal LoPiccolo, Greg Sams, David Belshan, Alice Tracy, Kelly Orland, William Engerman, Mark Stajdohar, Divya Sarang and Pam Monaco.
The keynote speaker will be U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
The commission was founded in 1919 by 35 members of the Chicago business community.