CHICAGO — A serial shoplifter accused of stealing merchandise 12 times after being released from jail when Illinois eliminated cash bail last year has been given a nine-year prison sentence.
Charged in August 2023 with felony shoplifting while on bail for another felony shoplifting case, 44-year-old James Tolbert sat in the Cook County jail, unable to afford the $1,600 bail deposit he needed to get released on an ankle monitor.
Barely three weeks later, Illinois eliminated the cash bail system. Tolbert’s attorney filed a motion asking Judge Kenneth Wadas to remove the cash bail requirement. Wadas agreed, and Tolbert went home with an order to stay in the house from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
After that, officials claimed, Tolbert shoplifted or robbed Sunglass Hut and Ulta Beauty locations in the Loop and on the Magnificent Mile a dozen times.
His legal troubles began on July 15, 2023, when prosecutors charged him with shoplifting from Ulta Beauty, 430 North Michigan Avenue. He was released on his own recognizance, only to get arrested again for shoplifting a basket full of fragrances from the same store less than a month later.
Charged with felony retail theft and operating a continuing financial crime enterprise, he couldn’t raise the $1,600 needed to get out of jail.
But hope was not lost for Tolbert. Just a few weeks later, on September 18, 2023, the state eliminated cash bail. In light of the change, his lawyer, claiming Tolbert was a churchgoing father of five who “worked as a licensed barber for over 30 years,” asked Judge Wadas to set him free without monetary conditions. And Tolbert went home with orders to stay in the house from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Prosecutors say he quickly resumed his shoplifting habits.
Cook County sheriff’s deputies arrested him on February 8 this year at Macy’s, 111 North State, after the store’s staff said they saw him place six designer sunglasses worth $2,755 in his coat and walk out the door.
Two loss prevention agents tried to stop him on State Street, the sheriff’s report said. He allegedly kicked one in the knee, causing her to fall to the pavement. The report said she couldn’t get back up and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Her partner managed to handcuff Tolbert and restrain him until police arrived, the report continued. Prosecutors said Tolbert had metal knuckles attached to a switchblade and a credit card in another man’s name when the deputies took him into custody.
While he was detained, investigators linked him to a string of shoplifting cases that began within a month of his release. In court filings, officials said he stole from the Ulta Beauty store on Michigan Avenue on October 27, November 4, and November 7 last year.
And, the filings say, he was identified as the thief who repeatedly shoplifted from Sunglass Hut locations this year:
- January 11 at the 900 North Michigan location
- January 13 at the Block 37 store
- January 16 at the Water Tower location
- January 17 at Block 37 again
- January 18 and 19 at the Macy’s branch
- January 23 at Block 37
- January 24 and 30 at Macy’s
Two sheriff’s office reports say Ulta and Sunglass Hut employees recognized Tolbert by the distinctive cross he has tattooed between his eyes.
Tolbert has put all of that behind him by pleading guilty in four of the 12 cases he had pending. Judge Wadas gave him concurrent sentences of nine years for operating a continuing financial crime enterprise, seven years for a second financial crime enterprise case, seven years for robbery, and five years for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped eight retail theft cases.
State records show he is expected to be paroled in August 2027 after serving half of his nine-year term.
