Jury finds driver guilty in 1995 fatal Lake Forest crash
A jury has found Marek Josko, who fled to Poland more than 25 years ago to avoid prosecution, guilty of reckless homicide in the death of a Waukegan man.
The sentencing hearing for Josko, who was returned to the U.S. in 2020 and found guilty Thursday, has not yet been set, but the 67-year-old could receive up to 14 years in prison.
Early in the morning of Dec. 9, 1995, several witnesses saw Josko driving the wrong way in the northbound lanes of Route 41, just north of Deerpath Road in Lake Forest, before he crashed into another vehicle. That caused a second collision, which involved Waukegan resident Dennis Bourassa, who sustained serious head injuries and later died, according to authorities.
Josko's blood alcohol concentration level was nearly double the legal limit at that time.
He was initially was charged with a DUI and released on bail while police investigated. On Dec. 18, 1995, a Lake County judge signed an arrest warrant for Josko on a reckless homicide charge. On Dec. 19, Josko boarded a plane from Chicago to Warsaw to avoid prosecution.
Police were unable to locate Josko in Poland, and it was listed as a "cold case" until 2013.
Local officers and officials at the U.S. Embassy in Poland, U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs and the FBI worked several years to find Josko, who was arrested in February 2020 in Przemysl, a city in far southeastern Poland.
Because of the pandemic, Josko's extradition was held up until June 2020, when the U.S. Marshals Service transported him from Poland and turned him over to Lake County sheriff's deputies.
Lake Forest Detective Mark Senger, who led the local police effort to find Josko during the last six years, praised everyone in the international law community who worked to track down Josko.
Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement issued Friday that he hopes the family of the victim, who waited years for justice, can now rest easy knowing that the ordeal is finally coming to a close.