Last year a Lake County, Illinois man spent 90 days in jail following an arrest for involvement in a criminal conspiracy. A judge later dropped the charges against him. He suspects the arrest came about due to his speaking on the telephone with the alleged ringleader in the conspiracy.
In any event, he’s now considering bringing legal action against the prosecutor’s office in his case. He is also hoping the Lake County State Attorney’s Office provides an apology for what occurred.
The arrest of the 43-year-old man occurred this past October. There were 20 other individuals also arrested as a part of a law enforcement effort called Operation Shut Down The Hustle.
This individual admits he has a past criminal record and spent years in jail for alleged drug dealing. However, he says he has not committed any crimes for the past six years. He also states he is now a husband, entrepreneur and church deacon. The morning of the arrest, he had just brought his wife home from the hospital after she had undergone major surgery.
It appears the costs of the arrest were high. The arrested individual states the business he and his wife were running was lost because of what occurred. He estimates he lost over $50,000 in business due to damage to his reputation.
While the investigation into this matter is ongoing, there’s no question that arrests lead to potentially damaging consequences. In probably no area of law is legal representation needed than when accusations of a crime arise. Authorities make mistakes and wrongful arrests do sometimes occur.
Source: CBS Chicago, “Man Arrested In Alleged Conspiracy Wants Apology From Lake Co. State’s Attorney,” Bernie Tafoya, March 9, 2015