3-year law license ban for attorney guilty of prostitution
A state commission that disciplines attorneys last week issued a three-year law license suspension for a Sycamore attorney guilty of prostitution.
In its ruling, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission cited the prostitution offense and Reema Nicki Bajaj's denial of it after she pleaded guilty, and lies on her license application from 2010 as well.
"In addition, she made material misrepresentations to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar in her bar application and later failed to be candid to the ARDC during the course of the disciplinary investigation," the panel wrote.
According to the ARDC, Bajaj, now 28, placed ads for sex on adultfriendfinder.com between 2005 and 2010 using the name "Nikita."
She had sex for money at least 25 times with one client and had transactions with two other men for money, gifts cards and office supplies.
The DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office charged her in May 2011 with three counts of prostitution.
Bajaj pleaded guilty to one count in June 2012 and the other charges were dropped. She was sentenced to two years of court supervision, 50 hours of community service and fined $2,500.
Bajaj lied to the ARDC in September 2012 when it investigated and asked her if she ever had sex for money or gifts, the commission concluded.
The ARDC also concluded she lied on portions of her law license application when she said she never was known by a different name and didn't list her online exploits under other jobs she had held.
The ARDC said Bajaj has since dissolved her practice, and had complied with supervision and completed public service at an animal shelter and took on six pro bono cases at the Elgin-based Administer Justice.
Bajaj could not be reached for comment.
Trouble for drunk dialing 9-1-1: A 37-year-old Carpentersville man who was wrongly arrested by Elgin police on felony robbery charges in spring 2011 is in trouble again.
Jose A. Ares Torres, of the 300 block of Armadillo Drive, missed a court appearance March 17 in Elgin Branch Court for misdemeanor charges that he made at least a dozen bogus 9-1-1 calls while drunk to police in September 2013.
A warrant was issued for his arrest and he faces up to a 364 days in jail on the misdemeanor charge.
Ares Torres was charged with felony theft in Elgin nearly three years ago, but the charges dropped after an Elgin police officer admitted to his supervisor that he planted a cellphone at the crime scene.
The former officer, Michael Sullivan, resigned after being charged with felony misconduct. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice and was sentenced to a month in jail and 200 hours of community service.
hitzeman@dailyherald.com