Authorities investigating threats against Lake County judge
Authorities are investigating threats made against a Lake County associate judge who released a Waukegan man charged with concealing the death of Megan Bos of Antioch.
Misinformation involving the case also has prompted the Lake County Coroner’s Office to caution the media and public to rely on official sources when discussing forensic findings.
In April, Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, was charged with two counts of concealing a death, abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice after police found the 37-year-old Bos’ body in a plastic garbage container in his yard.
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Chicago detained Mendoza-Gonzales, who was described as a “criminal illegal alien.”
According to the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, the charges faced by Mendoza-Gonzalez are not eligible for detention under the SAFE-T Act. He was placed on pretrial release with conditions, including reporting to pretrial services and not leaving Illinois.
But the ICE action Saturday quickly garnered social media attention.
“The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is aware of threatening social media posts and harassing correspondence directed at the judge who presided over the initial court hearing of Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez,” Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Chris Covelli said Monday.
“We have launched an investigation into the matter,” he added. “Making threats, especially against a sitting judge, crosses the line from protected speech to potential criminal conduct, and we take such behavior very seriously.”
Detail of the threats were not released but security protocol was coordinated with the judge and local law enforcement to provide extra security, according to Covelli.
Bos had been reported missing in early March. Authorities said Mendoza-Gonzalez was a person of interest who had frequent contact with Bos.
In a press release Monday afternoon, Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton dismissed reports that Bos had been decapitated before or after her death. That information was included in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security release and repeated elsewhere.
“This misinformation has caused unnecessary distress to the family and misrepresents the facts of this investigation,” Newton said.
Substances found in Bos’ liver tissue indicated potentially lethal cocaine, fentanyl and probable heroin use, he added.
Making a distinction between an accidental drug intoxication and an asphyxial death in the absence of significant trauma and the presence of potentially lethal drugs was not possible, according to Newton.
He said the office has coordinated with law enforcement and the state’s attorney’s office to ensure “factual, objective forensic findings are accurately represented.”
The Lake County state’s attorney’s office said a criminal trial and sentencing is more appropriate that deportation hearings because Mendoza-Gonzalez could face consecutive prison sentences on conviction but could be “free in days” if deported.
The state’s attorney’s office said it will prepare an official request that Mendoza-Gonzalez be held locally.