Judge mulls tossing out perjury charges

A Fox Lake businessman accused of knowing more than he's saying about the disappearance and suspected murder of a McHenry County teen will find out next week whether some of the perjury charges against him will stand.

McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather said Wednesday she will rule March 12 on Mario Casciaro's request she throw out some charges claiming he lied before a grand jury investigating the boy's 2002 disappearance.

Casciaro, 24, of McHenry, faces nine felony perjury charges alleging he lied under oath in February 2007 when questioned in front of a grand jury examining the mysterious case of Brian Carrick.

The 17-year-old Johnsburg boy vanished Dec. 20, 2002, after working the night shift at a grocery store in his hometown and has not been seen or heard from since. Casciaro, who now co-owns Val's Foods in Fox Lake, was Carrick's supervisor the night he disappeared.

McHenry County prosecutors allege Casciaro lied to the grand jury when he denied he told another man to "scare" Carrick on the night he vanished, denied knowing what happened to Carrick and claimed he does not know where Carrick's body was located.

County authorities have not accused Casciaro of abducting or killing Carrick, but it seems obvious they believe he knows who did. The perjury case against him might be leverage to get him to tell authorities what he knows.

His attorney argued in court last week that at least three of the nine perjury charges should be dismissed, saying the alleged false answers Casciaro gave to the grand jury had nothing to do with the investigation Carrick's disappearance.

County prosecutors objected to the defense request.

Even if the defense succeeds on some counts, it is likely Casciaro would still face more than one remaining perjury accusation and, if found guilty of multiple counts, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

And that, prosecutors and Carrick's family hope, will give him plenty of incentive to tell what he knows about the boy's fate.

In with the new:

Casciaro's case is being prosecuted by the McHenry County State's Attorney's Special Prosecutions Unit, a group that lost one of its members last week but is expected to fill that void next week with one of Ogle County's top guns.

Michael Combs, the first assistant state's attorney for Ogle County, will join the McHenry County State's Attorney's office March 10, bringing with him experience as a prosecutor in four first-degree murder cases and 75 jury trials in all.

Combs, a 1999 graduate of New York Law School, also previously worked as a criminal prosecutor for the Winnebago County State's Attorney. He is among a select group of criminal lawyers authorized by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve as lead counsel on a death-penalty case.

Combs replaces outgoing assistant state's attorney Scott Kent, who resigned last week to take a position in private practice.