Code of silence costs Addison killer six more years

When Robert Meza was questioned about a September 2007 homicide in Addison, he told police he was there but a fellow gang member did the shooting.

“I can't go down for this,” he told detectives in a videotaped interview.

More than three years later, however, only Meza is serving time for the murder — a result prosecutors pin on his own refusal to testify against the man he once blamed.

That refusal cost Meza an additional six years in prison on Friday, as DuPage County Judge Kathryn Creswell sentenced him for criminal contempt of court.

The ruling came after Meza took the stand and recanted his prior statements, saying yet a different gang member was responsible — and that he wasn't even there.

“Mr. Meza, you've had a lot to say today,” Creswell told him. “It's too bad you didn't have a lot to say when you were called to testify.”

Meza, 23, of Joliet, was already serving a 45-year stint after a jury found him guilty of the Sept. 15, 2007, killing of 22-year-old Lorenzo Salazar-Cortez when he defied a court order and refused to testify against co-defendant Antonio Aguilar Jr., who was subsequently acquitted. At the time, Meza said he feared retribution should he break his gang's code of silence.

Meza initially told police Aguilar shot Salazar-Cortez, an Itasca factory worker with no gang ties, after the pair drove to Addison with a plan to kill twin brothers who belonged to a rival gang. The victim was shot four times in the back through an open window, authorities said, after the shooter mistakenly opened fire on the wrong address.

But Meza's story changed again Friday, with him identifying another high-ranking gang member as the shooter and Aguilar as the driver. When asked why he never testified to those details when he had the opportunity, Meza said he believed media covering the case would not elaborate on whether he testified for the defense or prosecution, so either way he would be in trouble with his gang.

“I didn't let a murderer get away,” he said. “A murderer was never charged because at the time I was looking out for someone who was never really my friend anyway. I'm an idiot. I made stupid choices.”

In finding Aguilar not guilty of first-degree murder in February, Judge George Bakalis called Meza's refusal to testify a “serious loss” to the state's case.

On Friday, prosecutors centered on that sentiment, along with Meza's prior statements, in seeking 10 more years for the defendant.

“If Judge Bakalis had heard all this evidence, I believe he certainly would have found Antonio Aguilar guilty,” Assistant State's Attorney Steven Knight said. “Instead, he's roaming around this county free, escaping a murder charge.”

Creswell agreed that Meza's refusal to testify “impeded the prosecution.”

“It's clear he was following the rules of a gang over his duties to society,” she said, though she gave him credit for expressing remorse over joining a gang.

Aguilar did not attend Friday's sentencing. By law, Meza, who says he became a Christian in jail, must serve his latest term consecutive to his 45-year sentence, meaning he will be at least 68 years old before he's eligible for parole.

“Joining a gang was a mistake,” he said.