Saturday, April 20, 2013
A former Plainfield North gym teacher pleaded guilty to meeting a teen for sex. And that was just one of the things going on in court this week.
More than two years after the police caught her in a car with a half-dressed student from the high school where she was a teacher, Ashley Blumenshine copped a plea. Blumenshine, a 30-year-old former Plainfield North gym teacher, will have to do 11 days in jail. She will also spend two years on sex offender probation and 10 yeas on the Illinois sex offender registry. She tearfully apologized before she was taken into custody to start doing her time. Let's look at what else was going on in the area's courthouses this past week: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Former Plainfield North High School gym teacher Ashley Blumenshine apologized as she was sentenced to 11 days in jail and 10 years on the state's sex offender registry.
A tearful Ashley Blumenshine choked out an apology between sobs after pleading guilty to having sex with a teenage student from the high school where she was a teacher. "I will forever be humbled and remorseful for my actions," Blumenshine, a former Plainfield North gym teacher, said before she was handcuffed and led away to the Will County jail Friday morning to serve 11 days behind bars. The actual sentence was 30 days but it was halved by day-for-day credit. Blumenshine already served four of the remaining 15 days before she was released on bond. In addition to the time in jail, Blumenshine, 30, was put on sex offender probation for two years and will be placed on the Illinois sex offender registry for 10 years. Blumenshine faced much …
Monday, April 8, 2013
A single "issue" is holding up former Plainfield North gym teacher Ashley Blumenshine's plea deal, her lawyer said.
Former Plainfield North gym teacher Ashley Blumenshine planned to plead guilty to having sex with a teenage student but a single "issue" derailed the deal—at least for a couple weeks, her lawyer said. "It was our intention to plead today," attorney George Lenard told Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak during a brief hearing Monday morning. But "one issue" has gummed up the plea deal, Lenard said, "So we're going to need more time." After the hearing, Lenard said he could not specify what was holding up the plea. Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the state's attorney's office, also declined to comment. Judge Bertani-Tomczak set an April 19 date for Blumenshine to return to court. Blumenshine, 29, was arrested in January 2011 after …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A New Lenox man spoke of his "horrific" ordeal in the county jail after he was arrested for a murder someone else was wanted for.
We started the week off by talking with the New Lenox man jailed for two weeks for a murder allegedly committed by someone else with the same name. Pedro Hernandez, 67, said his time in the Will County jail was "horrific," and that he's looking for a lawyer to talk to about filing a lawsuit. But Hernandez's ordeal was just one of the things going on last week. There was also: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Monday, April 1, 2013
The lawyer for a former Plainfield North physical education teacher says she is ready to plead guilty next month.
More than two years after she was allegedly caught in a parked car with a teenage boy she'd just had sex with, a former Plainfield North High School teacher will plead guilty, her attorney said Monday. Ashley Blumenshine, 29, was arrested in January 2011 after Plainfield police caught her in the parking lot of the Kohl's on Route 59 with a 16-year-old Plainfield North student. Both Blumenshine and the teen reportedly admitted to the police that they had just had sex and were involved in an ongoing sexual relationship. Blumenshine has been free on bond since the day after her arrest. On Monday morning, her attorney, George Lenard, told Will County Judge Edward Burmila that Blumenshine is ready to make a deal. Blumenshine will be back in …
Friday, February 1, 2013
Telephones and computers changed hands in court Friday and Margarita Hernandez's trial next week on sex charges was canceled.
An FBI agent returned the cell phone of a woman charged with setting up a sex romp with a teenage boy, and the woman immediately surrendered the phone to a Joliet police detective during a brief court hearing Friday morning. Also Friday, computers seized from the woman's home on Joliet's far west side were turned over by the police detective. The computers were taken by lawyers defending her against charges she had sex with a 15-year-old from Chicago. The attorneys representing Margarita Hernandez, Steve Landis and Dan Locallo, said they took the computers for safekeeping and that they would be tested by experts to see if Hernandez used them to communicate with the teen. Hernandez, 33, was arrested in October after allegedly orchestrating …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The trial for a Joliet woman charged with setting up a sex date with a teenage boy was scheduled for Monday, and one lawyer said she may be the patsy in a frame-up.
The lawyers for a Joliet woman charged with setting up a sex date with a teenage boy have yet to see evidence supposedly held by the FBI, but unless they back down on a demand for a quick resolution to her case, she may have to go to trial on Monday. Will County Judge Edward Burmila said during a Wednesday hearing that he was not going to hold local prosecutors responsible for coughing up evidence in the possession of the FBI and that he would not delay Monday's trial date for Margarita Hernandez—unless Hernandez's lawyers agree to postpone the proceedings. Hernandez, 33, was arrested in October after allegedly orchestrating a sexual liaison with a 15-year-old Chicago boy. The teen is the friend of the son of one of Hernandez's cousins, …
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Drew Peterson was in court last week trying to get a new trial, and there were a few other people with cases too.
Drew Peterson was brought into a courtroom packed with reporters and had a hearing to set the date for another hearing to see if he can have a do-over of his murder trial. That was the biggest thing going on at the Will County Courthouse last week, but it wasn't the only thing. Let's look at what else was going on in the week that was:
Friday, January 11, 2013
The FBI and Chicago police have not responded to subpoenas for evidence in the Margarita Hernandez sex case.
Lawyers for the Joliet woman charged with setting up a sex date with a teenage boy are still waiting on the FBI and Chicago police to hand over reports. The attorneys for Margarita Hernandez subpoenaed the reports but have yet to receive them. The lawyers, Steve Landis and Dan Locallo, also submitted a motion Friday asking for evidence related to the cell phones Hernandez and the teen allegedly used to send messages prior to the tryst. Hernandez is free on bond. She faces up to 21 years in prison for allegedly having sex with the teen after he traveled to her home from Chicago in July. The boy's mother went to the Chicago police and accused Hernandez of having sex with her son. The Chicago police passed the case off to the Joliet police …
Saturday, December 22, 2012
The case of a Tinley Park man who allegedly beat his wife to death with a weightlifting bar was just one of the thing's going on at the Will County Courthouse this week.
The Tinley Park man charged with beating his wife to death with a weightlifting bar had his bond set at $5 million. And if Bahaa Sam, 47, comes up with $500,000 cash he needs to secure his release, he must turn in both his American and Egyptian passports, Will County Judge Roger Rickmon ordered at Sam's bond hearing Thursday. Sam allegedly bludgeoned his wife with a weightlifting bar after they argued over his lack of employment. Sam's wife, 38-year-old Nermeen Gamal Sam, had bitten her husband's finger when he blocked her from leaving the house, police said. Sam then murdered his wife in front of their 4-year-old son, police and prosecutors said. But that wasn't the only thing going on at the Joliet courthouse, although it may have been …
Skb
4:41 pm on Thursday, April 25, 2013
I'm am quite sure the 16 year old wasn't raped and consented. The old lady was being nice and got raped for it. To compare the two is idiotic. Expect nothing less from crook county residents. more ›