No early release for Mundelein man who made bogus 911 call about workplace gunman
A Mundelein man who admitted making a bogus 911 call to get out of work before his shift was over won't be leaving jail until his sentence is done.
Antonio P. Fletcher, 47, asked Lake County Judge Patricia S. Fix for an early release Wednesday so he could spend time with his father, who he said is dying of cancer in a veterans hospital. Fletcher said his father has had cancer for about four months.
"He (can) barely speak because he has tubes in his nose," Fletcher said.
Fletcher is serving a jail sentence as part of an August plea deal to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from the bogus 911 call in May. He is scheduled to be released Oct. 22.
The charge alleged Fletcher, of the 400 block of East Hawley Street, called 911 about 1:15 p.m. May 6 and claimed there was a man with a gun threatening workers inside Ruprecht Co. in Mundelein, police said. Responding officers learned there were no other complaints of a gunman, but they ordered the building evacuated and searched the facility.
Investigators later learned the 911 call came from Fletcher's cellphone. Police said Fletcher left work early, then made the call so his supervisors wouldn't notice he was gone.
Fletcher told Fix how sorry he is for making the bogus call.
"I apologize for the foolishness I've done," he said.
But Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Danielle Pascucci urged the judge to reject Fletcher's request for an early release.
"I remember you saying at the time that this was a kiss of a sentence," Pascucci said.
Fix said she believes Fletcher's apology but denied his motion for a reduced sentence, saying she suspects he knew of his father's condition before agreeing to the jail term. Instead, Fix ordered Fletcher be given two phone calls to the hospital to speak to his father.