We hear from the 23rd District Court Advocates that Dennis Dawson, who mugged and beat an 85-year-old Uptown resident in the elevator of his home on the 4500 block of Sheridan, was sentenced to 11 years in prison today, to be followed by three years of probation.Judge Stanley Sacks accepted a plea bargain agreement between the public defender and state's attorney. At the ripe old age of 35, Mr. Dawson, previously of the 900 block of Lawrence, has an extensive rap sheet, including seven felonies. He'll have a good long time in prison to reflect on his life's journey so far and we hope he makes some better decisions upon his release.
Further good news: The elderly gentleman who was the victim of the crime suffered no permanent injuries from the attack.
We commend, again, our 23rd District police for their excellent work in identifying and arresting Mr. Dawson so quickly after the crime, and State's Attorney Joy Repella for overseeing the case from beginning to end. Kudos to the court advocates of the 20th and 23rd Districts for following this case as it wound its way through the court system, and to Emerald Towers management for having security cameras in place, which aided the police in identifying Mr. Dawson as the offender after the tapes were played at roll call.
Great to hear! 11 years is no light sentence. It's refreshing to hear about these animals getting what they deserve instead of let off with probation or plea bargained minimum sentences. I hope the thugs are taking note, they all have a number and they'll all be called sooner or later....
ReplyDeleteIt's really about 5 years with good behaviour, but 5 years is a good long time.
ReplyDeleteIt will not be even five years. I predict he will be released in three years. The bleeding heart liberals that make those decisions will fell sorry for him, try to place the blame on someone or something else rather than him and then release him claiming that he has turned himself around while in prison. He will then be released, lay low a few weeks, maybe even a month and then resume his criminal ways. I have seen it happen far too many times before to believe otherwise. You can rip me for using the "L" word but it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the "Liberals" it's those damn conservatives.
ReplyDeleteBig Daddy, not to tromp all over your cynicism, but I was actually in court yesterday for this.
ReplyDeleteAt minimum, Dawson will serve half his sentence. One of the counts was a Class X felony, so he will not be able to get out any sooner. He pleaded guilty to get the plea bargain, so there's no "second chance."
If he commits a crime during his three years of probation -- and we're talking about someone who has over 50 crimes on his record, so what are the odds that he's going to be able to stay out of trouble for three years? -- then he'll have to serve the rest of this sentence plus whatever he gets sentenced for the new crime.
Dennis is away from Uptown for at LEAST five and a half years. No doubt about it. May the same thing happen to other predators who perceive elderly neighbors as their victims.
What we need to do is disseminate this information within Uptown to people who might be thinking about committing crime here:
ReplyDelete1. We are watching you.
2. If you get caught, we have no mercy.
3. You may wind up in Prison, and we will do everything in our power to see that that happens.
4. We don't want this crap in our community.
Good work by all involved in the collective efforts to get this one dirtbag off the streets.
I really do think if there was some way to send a message that not only do we want a safer community, but we are willing to take action, criminals might move out of Uptown to areas where people care less.
TrumanSquareNabr-
ReplyDeleteWanna bet?
Trust Big Daddy on this one. He has likely seen this play out many times over the years. Add that up with Gov. Quinn and his budget cuts, you get the picture.The State of Illinois simply will not pay to warehouse these people. Insist on CCTV cameras in any building that you rent or buy into...unless you want to be the next victim of a guy like Dennis Dawson. Given the holidays are upon us, expect bad people to be on the streets and act accordingly.
ReplyDelete