A Northwest Side man who shot his neighbor twice in less than a year has been sentenced to a decade in prison. John Kastanes, 60, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery by discharging a firearm in connection with the second shooting.
Kastanes’ unusual case began around 3 p.m. on October 10, 2023, when Chicago police responded to calls of a man shot in the 3900 block of North Tripp. Officers found a 69-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds to his stomach and arm.
According to an arrest report, Kastanes made an “excited utterance” to police: “It was me. I did it, and I shot him.”
Despite the statement, police released Kastanes, who held a license to carry firearms, pending further investigation. Prosecutors charged him with aggravated battery by discharging a firearm a week later, but the case was dropped in December 2023.
Six months later, the story repeated itself.
Prosecutors said the same victim got into an argument with Kastanes in the 3800 block of North Keeler. Kastanes pulled a gun and opened fire, striking the man in the right arm. The victim drove himself to a nearby immediate care clinic before being transferred to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Neighbors called 911, and Kastanes flagged down a passing squad car. Officers arrested him on the spot and prosecutors didn’t drop the case this time around.
Judge Ursula Waloski oversaw the case and handed down the sentence. State law requires him to serve at least 85 percent of the time, giving him an anticipated release date in December 2032.
The shooting victim has a colorful history. In the 1980s, he was convicted in a major federal case involving an arson and extortion ring.
In one instance, he allegedly had the owner of an auto body shop in the neighborhood now known as Boystown arrested on false charges. While the owner was in police custody, he assumed control of the body shop as part of the scheme. When the owner returned to the business after being released from custody, the man met him with a firearm, threatening to shoot him and kill his family if he ever returned, according to federal court records.
The body shop owner lost his business, and an arsonist later set his car on fire, court documents say.
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