Belleville Criminal Defense Blog

Librarians are generally regarded as paragons of public servants - cooperative, helpful and honest. That stereotype may be shaken by the arrest and arraignment of the former East St. Louis library director on embezzlement and wire fraud charges.

According to the charges filed in federal court, the defendant used credit cards owned and paid for by the school district to purchase sports and concert tickets. The defendant pleaded not guilty to both charges. The defendant was released from custody based upon his promise to appear in court when required. He was, however, required to surrender his Firearm Owner's Identification card, his concealed-carry card and his passport.

Divorces can stir very intense emotions in one or both spouses. In some cases, one spouse will let intense anger spill over into one or more acts of violence. A funeral home director from Belleville was recently charged with using a baseball bat to assault and threaten his estranged wife in her home.

According to police, the suspect broke into a house in St. Clair County and attacked his 62-year-old wife with an aluminum baseball bat. The woman filed a statement in St. Clair County Court in which she accused the man of hitting her multiple times with the bat and pushing her down a staircase. She further accused him of trying to throttle her by placing the bat across her throat. While holding her down, the man allegedly told the woman to vacate the house within three weeks and to drop the divorce proceeding in favor of an out-of-court settlement.

Let's say you're driving along an Illinois highway when a police officer pulls you over. Your first thought may be that you were traveling a few miles over the posted speed limit. Then the lunch you just had with a few friends suddenly comes to mind, because you enjoyed a couple of beers with your meal. That seemingly innocent event now has you worried as the officer approaches your window.

Does consuming a drink or two at a social gathering mean you're breaking the law if you get behind the wheel? The answer depends on several factors, most importantly how much alcohol is in your bloodstream at the time of your traffic stop. If the police officer standing at your window asks you to get out of your car, you can bet he or she suspects you of DUI.

Identify theft has become a nationwide problem in our credit card economy. One of the most common methods of stealing a person's personal and banking information is the installation of a skimmer device on a credit card reader. The skimmer copies the card holder's account information and then downloads the information onto a computer controlled by the intended thief.

Two men were recently arrested and charged with placing skimmers on three gas station pumps in Okawville. The skimmer was discovered by a maintenance worker who had been called to repair the pump. Police next reviewed the station's surveillance videos, where they saw images that allegedly showed the suspects installing the skimmers. The assistant manager of the gas station noticed the car used by the suspects when it returned to the station a few days later. Police were notified, and the two suspects were arrested.