Chicago Criminal Law Blog

A West Side Chicago man was about 40 miles from his Lawndale home when he was recently arrested in suburban Joliet. The 25-year-old faces several serious charges, according to his hometown newspaper, including manufacture and delivery of a heroin-like substance, manufacture and delivery of a cocaine-like substance, possession of a weapon by felon and possession of a firearm by a street gang member.

The news report says that both weapons charges are Class 2 felonies punishable by three to seven years in state prison.

Truck drivers trying to navigate Chicago’s streets safely have to watch carefully to avoid cars and pedestrians, but also have to be aware of the overpasses as well. When the driver of a Freightliner box truck clipped a McKinley Park overpass earlier this year, he was “feeling bad because I had gotten into a major accident and I didn’t know what to do.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, a helpful tow truck driver appeared and lent a hand, hauling the damaged Freightliner to the towing company’s storage lot. However, the tow truck guy might not have been as helpful as he initially seemed: Along with another man, he was later arrested and charged with a felony count of tower solicitation.

The daring escape attempt looked like something out of the movies. Chicago police said a 22-year-old man recently jumped from a sixth story window in an attempt to evade arrest. The escape attempt failed, however, after the man landed on the concrete sidewalk outside of his South Side apartment, breaking bones and suffering serious internal injuries.

According to a report in the Sun-Times, the suspect was taken first to a hospital and later charged in federal court with murder in aid of racketeering and illegal possession of a 9mm handgun.

We have written in this space about people in the Chicago area who faced federal drug trafficking charges. Those allegations typically revolve around illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. It is rare to see drug-related charges against a businessman who sold legal drugs from a pharmacy.

But that was the case with Paul J. Elmer, the former owner and CEO of Pharmakon Pharmaceuticals. He was recently convicted by a jury of distributing “over- and under-potent drugs to military and civilian hospitals” in Chicago, Indiana and elsewhere, the Department of Justice stated. He was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and of distributing adulterating drugs.