Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart will participate in an online meeting called “Straight Talk on Electronic Monitoring” at 5:30 p.m. Monday, January 10. Several politicians, including three state legislators who voted in favor of a new law that decriminalized electronic monitoring absences of less than 48 hours, are listed as hosts. They are: Sen. Rob Martwick (10th); Rep. Ann Williams (11th); and Rep. Margaret Croke (12th). Also, Sen. Sara Feigenholtz (6th), who voted in favor of the legislation, will moderate. If you’d like to participate, RSVP here.
A gun, coke, and $3,700
Just four weeks after a judge ordered Jorge Aguilar to stay in his house on electronic monitoring to await trial on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Chicago police allegedly found him reclining in his car with a handgun on the floor and a Tupperware containing 50 grams of cocaine on his passenger seat, prosecutors said Friday. There was also $3,700 cash in his glove box.
But Aguilar, 27, won’t be charged with escaping from electronic monitoring because he wasn’t out of his house for more than two days.
His troubles began on May 14 when police allegedly saw him smoking a joint while driving on the West Side. They pulled him over, searched his car, and found a joint, a loaded handgun, and a small baggie containing a half-gram of suspected methamphetamine, prosecutors said during a bond court hearing the next day.
Aguilar, who received probation for illegal gun possession in 2013, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and two drug-related charges. He went home by paying a $1,500 deposit on his $15,000 bail, according to court records.
But prosecutors filed a violation of bail bond against him on December 8. The basis for the motion was not immediately available, but Judge Neera Walsh ordered him to pay an additional $1,500 and go onto electronic monitoring to get out of jail.
“NO MOVEMENT,” reads a note in the court’s case file, meaning Aguilar was to stay in his house.
On Thursday, police responded to a ShotSpotter gunfire detector alert and saw one car parked on the corner near the location where the suspected gunfire reportedly originated. The car was running, and Aguilar, reclined in the driver’s seat, was the only occupant, Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis said.
Officers asked him to step out and soon saw a loaded, stolen handgun lying directly behind the car’s center console on the floorboard, Kalliantasis alleged. And there was the cash and the Tupperware containing cocaine, he said.
Prosecutors charged Aguilar with another count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a controlled substance.
His public defender, Suzin Farber, said he has two children and works for a towing company.
Judge Maryam Ahmad set bail at $150,000 in the new case. He must post 10% of that to get out of jail. She also ordered him held without bail until the judge in his other gun case can review the new developments next week.
Electronic monitoring for attempted murder
Brandon Almazan, who is awaiting trial for attempted murder in connection with a December 2017 shooting on the 5900 block of West Diversey, was nearing his fourth year on electronic monitoring when cops pulled him over for speeding in Elk Grove Village last month.
Prosecutors said he was the only person in the car, and cops saw an open can of beer and an open bottle of tequila on the front passenger floorboard. According to the allegations, officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded handgun under Almazan’s driver’s seat.
He once had a license to own firearms in Illinois, but he has not been licensed to carry a concealed weapon, prosecutors said. It was not clear if his license to own guns was still valid, given the pending attempted murder case.
Prosecutors charged him with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Almazan’s defense attorney said the shooting victim has never identified him as the person who shot him, only as someone present at the time of the shooting.
Sheriff’s office records show Almazan is now held without bail on the attempted murder case and is being held in lieu of $50,000 on the new gun charge.
Related coverage
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- Man gets 6 years for armed robbery while on electronic monitoring for another robbery (February 16, 2021)
- Prosecutors: Rapist who followed woman from Belmont Red Line was supposed to be on electronic monitoring (March 27, 2021)
- Alleged rapists go missing after judges let them out on electronic monitoring (April 5, 2021)
- Man chased down and killed victim while on electronic monitoring for gun case, prosecutors say (April 18, 2021)
- Prosecutors: Man had auto-fire gun while on bail for trying to kill a cop and escaping from electronic monitoring (May 4, 2021)
- Five-time felon, on electronic monitoring for gun case, killed man during Christmastime home invasion, prosecutors say (June 16, 2021)
- On electronic monitoring for gun case, man escapes and shoots victim in the face, prosecutors say (July 23, 2021)
- Man on electronic monitoring for shooting and robbery charges is busted with a gun on the street, prosecutors say (August 18, 2021)
- Five-time felon killed his own cousin while on electronic monitoring for pending narcotics case, prosecutors say (November 3, 2021)
- County leaders say electronic monitoring is safe and effective. Here are some people who may disagree. (November 10, 2021)
- Man shot a teenager during a drug deal — while on electronic monitoring for gun and drug cases, prosecutors say (December 18, 2021)
- Man carjacked woman while on electronic monitoring for two armed robberies and a felony gun case, prosecutors say (January 4, 2022)
