Vernon Hills man pleads not guilty to felony charges of theft and conspiracy
A Vernon Hills man appeared in court today after he was charged with stealing over half a million dollars, authorities said.
Ricky Dugo, 54, pleaded not guilty to six felony counts of theft and conspiracy during a Zoom hearing Wednesday morning, according to a news release from the Lake County state's attorney's office.
Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Kevin Berrill said Dugo convinced people to give him money for investments that didn't exist. Berrill said Dugo would return to the same people for additional money, the news release said. The dates of the offenses run from January of 2013 to March of 2018, the release said.
"Each of the victims in this case fell prey to a long con. These scams had significant negative impacts on their lives," Berrill said. "Our goal in this case is to seek justice for victims who were truly hurt by these schemes."
The Lake County state's attorney's office charged Dugo with two Class 1 felony counts: unauthorized theft of between $500,000 and $1 million dollars and theft by deception of between $500,000 and $1 million. Dugo also faces four Class 2 felonies, including two more theft counts involving between $10,000 and $100,000 and two counts of conspiracy to commit financial crimes, with those counts identifying between $10,000 and $100,000 as having been lost, according to the news release.
Prosecutors said it's possible additional victims may exist.
Lake County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Shanes set a case management date for July 6. A trial date has not yet been set because attorneys on both sides are still looking over thousands of pages of information on the case, the news release said.
Dugo's wife, Shannon, also faces a charge in connection with the case for lying to a Lake County grand jury, the release said. Shannon Dugo, 39, was charged with one count of perjury, a Class 3 felony, which carries a potential sentence of two to five years in prison.
Class 1 felonies are punishable by four to 15 years in prison, while Class 2 felonies carry a sentencing range of three to seven years, according to the news release.