Houghtaling denies perjury charges

Justin Houghtaling formally pleaded not guilty Wednesday to allegations he repeatedly lied on the witness stand when testifying in August at the trial of friend and murder co-defendant Kenneth Smith.

The 26-year-old former Round Lake resident asked for a jury trial on the five counts of perjury handed down in September by a McHenry County grand jury looking into the claims.

The charges allege that, among other things, Houghtaling was not being truthful when he told jurors that McHenry County prosecutors were forcing him to lie about Smith's role in a 2001 murder and that a former prosecutor, now a judge, offered him $3,000 to implicate Smith.

Despite that testimony, the jury went on the convict Smith, 32, of Park City, of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery for fatally shooting Lakemoor resident Raul Briseno during a botched holdup of the victim's McHenry restaurant. Smith later was sentenced to 67 years in prison.

Houghtaling, Smith's accomplice, pleaded guilty to murder in 2001 and agreed to testify against Smith in return for the minimum 20-year sentence. County prosecutors say he reneged on that pledge by perjuring himself at Smith's trial.

If found guilty, he could face another 10 years in prison on top of the 20-year term he is serving.

Houghtaling was indicted again last week, this time in federal court on a charge for sending a letter in March threatening harm to a U.S. District Court judge.

The charge, a felony, could land him in prison for 10 years if he is convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned on that charge Nov. 25.