Local Man Sentenced for Cocaine Possession with Intent to Deliver

Serafin Rangel, 30, of Plano received a six year sentence after pleading guilty to cocaine possession with the intent to deliver.

A local man was sentenced to six years for cocaine possession with the intent to deliver, said Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis. Serafin Rangel, 30, of the 200 block of East Main Street, Plano, was arrested back in March of 2012 after the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team (C.P.A.T.) executed a search warrant of his residence. Rangel pled guilty for cocaine possession with the intent to deliver and has been sentenced to six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He will be required to serve three years of supervised release after he serves his prison sentence. Weis commended the C.P.A.T for their efforts, saying, "[They] continue to send a message that a career in distributing cocaine in Kendall County …

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Auditor to Start County Board Per Diem Review Next Week

The forensic auditor will look at all 10 Kendall County Board members' meeting pay from December 2008 to June 1.

An independent forensic audit of Kendall County Board members' pay likely won't be finished this year. Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis announced Tuesday that he's meeting with personnel from a Palos Heights-based firm next week to hand off meeting minutes, pay stubs and other information. Dennis Czurylo and his firm will review the requests for meeting pay surrounding all 10 county board members from December 2008 to June 1. Czurylo’s firm had estimated the audit would take three months after the firm received the relevant paperwork. The auditor’s findings will be reported to Weis, who would use them in connection with any investigation. Weis announced he was hiring the firm in June after long-time county board member Anne …

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LeSure Takes Plea Deal for 50 Years in Murder

Theddias LeSure, 25, formerly of Montgomery, had been accused of pouring gasoline on a family member and setting him on fire while he was alive. A second family member died in the fire; two others were severely injured.

Theddias LeSure once faced the death penalty for allegedly dousing his sleeping cousin with gasoline and lighting him on fire when he awoke, starting a fire that killed the cousin and LeSure's brother. On Friday, the 25-year-old former Montgomery man accepted a negotiated plea in which he will serve 50 years in prison for murdering his cousin, Maurice Vaughn, 32, in 2009, according to a news release Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis issued Tuesday. After the death penalty was abolished, he could have faced life in prison if convicted of murdering Vaughn (his cousin) and Matthew LeSure, 26 (his brother). Weis said all the victims or their families discussed the plea agreement extensively before the deal was reached. Vaughn's mother…

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Forensic Accountant to Audit County Board Pay

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis announced he's hiring a Palos Heights-based firm.

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis is hiring a Palos Heights-based forensic accountant to review county board members’ meeting pay since December 2008. Dennis Czurylo and his firm will review meeting minutes, board rules and related state statutes, payroll information and pay vouchers, which are documents board members submit requesting pay for individual meetings. Weis discussed the audit with county board members Tuesday morning and announced he would seek the special review without a board vote. Prosecutors commonly rely on forensic audits for cases involving allegations of financial crimes, but generally an outside entity has paid for and completed the audit before prosecutors are involved, Weis said. “This is a board matter,” …

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Todd Milliron

9:03 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012

Travis, I'm sure the auditor will come up with some recommendations that will need to be considered and implemented. When I first ran for KCB in the early primary of 2008, I did my own review at that time, mainly regarding mileage submitted by KCB members in 2007. The board members I had mileage questions about were asked about my concerns and I did receive answers that were acceptable …   more ›

Oswego Man Sent to Prison for Rape in Yorkville

Rodolfo Zapata, 26, forced himself on an unconscious woman, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said.

A 26-year-old Oswego man was sentenced to 8 years in prison this week for sexually assaulting a woman who had been unconscious in a Yorkville home, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said. Judge John Barsanti issued the sentence Wednesday for Rodolfo Zapata, of Anna Marie Lane, after reviewing the case and Zapata's two prior felony convictions, Weis said in a news release. Jurors convicted Zapata of criminal sexual assault after a three-day trial this year. Zapata had been living in the basement of a Yorkville home when the homeowner invited several people over after meeting them at a Yorkville bar, Weis said. The female victim was one of those people, and Zapata forced sex on her after finding her passed out in the home early in …

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Weis Expected to Suggest Auditor for Kendall County Board Pay Review

State's Attorney Eric Weis could name someone to review all board members' meeting pay on Tuesday.

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis plans to suggest an individual on Tuesday to audit county board members’ meeting pay over the past three years. His suggestion will include an approximate cost, although his original estimate was between $5,000 and $10,000, Weis said at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday. The county board’s Finance Committee, which also met Thursday, supported spending county money on the audit. The County Board's next meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county office building. County board members have been squabbling for weeks over which meetings their colleagues could claim for an $85 per diem – and whether County Board member Dan Koukol purposefully submitted claims for meetings not covered…

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Trial Date Set for Man Involved in Walmart Altercation

Montgomery man accused of shoving an off-duty police officer on Super Bowl Sunday appeared in court Wednesday.

The Montgomery man involved in a scuffle with an off-duty Kendall County sheriff’s deputy at the Oswego Walmart on Super Bowl Sunday is set to stand trial in September, State's Attorney Eric Weis said. Jason Thurmond, who was charged with battery stemming from the incident, appeared in Kendall County circuit court Wednesday. The case will be up for scheduling matters on Sept. 12, and the trial could start Sept. 17. The incident started with the express lane and ended with an off-duty police officer pulling a gun in the store. Thurmond has said he left the checkout to retrieve eggs from the store and returned from the aisles to find the officer - who Thurmond did not know was an off-duty police officer - arguing with his nine-months-…

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Yorkville Man Sentenced For Burglary, Driving Stolen Car

Idreis J. Johnson was given 7 years in prison but recommended for a shorter prison boot-camp program.

An 18-year-old Yorkville man recently was sentenced to 7 years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said in a news release. Idreis J. Johnson, of the 300 block of Birchwood Drive, could serve substantially less time in prison if prison officials accept a judge's recomendation that he be placed in an intensive boot-camp program. After he is released, he will serve two years of parole. Johnson was charged earlier this year with burglary in connection to an October 2011 incident in Oswego, Weis said. While police were investigating the burglary, Johnson was discovered driving a car reported stolen from Bellwood, fled on foot and was soon apprehended by police.

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Koukol Pay Case Not Closed for State's Attorney

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis still plans to present the county board with information about a forensic auditor.

Kendall County Board Chair Weighs in on Koukol Meeting Pay

Chairman John Purcell said independent audit not needed.

Kendall County Board member Dan Koukol has agreed to credit the county for three meeting payments - and Chairman John Purcell thinks that should be the final word on the matter. Purcell reviewed Koukol's meeting pay vouchers over the past year and found that Koukol, of Oswego, was improperly paid an $85 per diem three times over the past year. County board members request meeting payments by submitting vouchers, usually once a month, so Koukol is going to attend three meetings without requesting the associated $85 pay, Purcell said. Purcell's review sharply contrasts with Finance Committee Chairman Anne Vickery's review, which found Koukol was improperly paid for more than 50 meetings since taking office in December 2010. Purcell started …

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sarah b.w.t.

4:21 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012

Completely agree.   more ›