Court Advocate Report on 19th District Cases

A note from one of the 19th District Court Advocates:

"I thought your readers would be interested in the resolution of 2 cases we've been following for the past few years. They did not take place in Uptown. They both happened in nearby Lincoln Square. They are representative of the kinds of cases we follow. We are currently following cases involving several high-profile Uptown crimes.

If your readers are interested in joining us, they need to be available in the morning to go to court, even just once every couple months. We meet briefly at the 19th District Police Station, 850 West Addison, at 6:00 PM on the last Monday of each month. They are welcome to attend as we go over our court calendar.

• Andrew Salamon was found guilty of Murder, Armed Robbery, and Burglary. Last month he received sentences of 25 years, 8 years, and 4 years, respectively. He must serve 100% of the time for murder and is not projected to be released until 2040. He has been incarcerated since 2011 while awaiting trial. He was found guilty of the 2009 beating death of 69-year-old Robert Gonzales, the owner of O'Lanagan's on Montrose near Western. He accompanied a buddy who had a grudge against Mr. Gonzales. Mr. Salamon ended up being the one charged with murder after friends went to the police with information that he had told them about the murder . He was 23 years old at the time of the murder and is now 29.

• Admon Shasho was found guilty last year of sexual assault and attempted robbery. He was a cab driver who attacked a young woman on her nightly walk home. This happened on the 2300 block of Sunnyside in 2012. He has spent the past year appealing the jury verdict. Yesterday the judge sentenced him to 22 years, 18 for the sexual assault and 4 for the attempted robbery. He must serve 85% of his sentence. He had 5 different public defenders because he kept firing them, and for a time attempted to defend himself. One of the notable aspects of the case was that a Lincoln Square resident heard the young woman's screams from his house while he was asleep. He ran outside in his pajamas and grabbed a shovel as a weapon. He chased Mr. Shasho for 3 blocks, including through Welles Park. He was able to flag down a police car and the officers arrested Mr. Shasho, who is 31 now. He was 27 at the time he committed the crime.

Assistant State's Attorney Joy Repella, who is the supervisor of Cook County's four Community Justice Centers, was the lead prosecutor for both cases."