Round Lake man: Jewelry store robbery was inside job

A Round Lake man who admitted his role in the armed robbery of a jewelry store claimed at his sentencing hearing Wednesday that his victims were parties to the crime.

Jose Rico, 38, told Lake County Circuit Judge Fred Foreman that he and his brother, Modesto Rico of Chicago, conspired with the store owner to fake the robbery to collect insurance on the store the owner used to launder money from a drug dealing operation.

Foreman sentenced Rico to 14 years in prison, just short of half the 30-year sentence he could have received. Foreman did not comment on the accusation.

After the hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Hoffert said there was “absolutely and positively no evidence to support a single word that came out of the mouth” of Rico during the hearing.

Rico pleaded guilty to armed robbery May 11 in exchange for the dismissal of an aggravated kidnapping charge.

He admitted acting as a lookout while his brother, Modesto, entered the store posing as a customer.

Rico said the plan, conjured up by the store owner who kept cocaine and drug dealing profits in the store safe alongside jewels and diamonds, was for Modesto to pretend to rob the owner of lower-value items and flee.

However, police said that on the day of the Feb. 4, 2010 robbery, Modesto entered the store and found the owner’s wife there.

Police said Modesto, who Jose Rico described as “crazy” during his statement to Foreman, then bound the woman with duct tape and tied her up with electrical cords. He also stabbed her with the knife he was brandishing and raped her.

Modesto Rico has pleaded not guilty to the same armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping charges his brother faced, as well as charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

In her statement to the court, the victim claimed the robbery cost her and her husband more than $200,000 and has driven them into bankruptcy.

She said she and her husband had befriended Jose Rico and considered him almost a part of their family.

“Not only did Jose steal everything we had of value, he stole my heart,” she said in her statement. “Not only did he leave us in financial ruin, he also stole my soul.”

The woman and her husband declined to comment on Rico’s accusations.

Defense attorney Jed Stone of Waukegan asked for a sentence of eight years in prison, saying his client was taking responsibility for what he did. Stone said it was “outrageous” that prosecutors did not investigate Rico’s conspiracy claim.

Hoffert asked for a sentence of 20 to 25 years, saying Jose Rico had revealed his true nature through his accusations against the victims.

“This is a treacherous, contemptible man,” Hoffert said of Rico. “Now, at last with a chance to apologize to these people, he tries to ruin their reputation along with all the other damage he has done to them.”