A man who faced multiple burglary charges after investigators allegedly linked pings from his electronic monitoring bracelet to a series of store break-ins has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Dante Givens, 32, was wearing the GPS ankle bracelet as he awaited trial for a pending forgery case when he joined thousands of other Chicagoans for a night of looting on August 10, 2020, according to prosecutors.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office provided Chicago police with a GPS monitoring report that allegedly showed Givens was in the area of looting incidents at Enrich Market, 805 North LaSalle, as well as a Binny’s Beverage Depot and a 7-Eleven convenience store.
In addition to the GPS records, police found surveillance camera footage that allegedly showed Givens breaking into Enrich Market with a garbage can and then taking alcohol and cash. Additional videos showed him looting the other stores, prosecutors said.
Now, Givens has pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary and two counts of forgery in exchange for six concurrent 6-year sentences, according to court records. Judge Timothy Joyce handed down the sentences and said Givens would receive credit for 197 days spent in jail before pleading.
Columbus statue case dropped
Meanwhile, prosecutors have dropped criminal defacement charges against a Humboldt Park woman accused of spray-painting the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park last year. Kaitlyn O’Keefe, 27, faced two misdemeanor counts after police said she defaced the statue, which was tagged with “BLM” and other slogans on the afternoon of June 13, 2020.
City workers removed the Columbus statue a month later after a violent protest left 18 police officers injured, according to CPD.
