The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Marcus Mason is leaving the Illinois football team. They also are reporting that Julia Rietz is essentially going to let him off charges of burglary (just like Luther Head and Richard McBride) AND charges of forgery and unauthorized use of a credit card. Mason will merely have to go through adult diversion.
It will be interesting to see the level of outrage leveled at Rietz for this virtually non-existent punishment by both the News-Gazette and the Champaign County bar, especially in light of the fact that the charges are more serious than the ones against Head and McBride.
Update:
Matthew correctly points out that I failed to mention the most important point of the post. John Piland (whipping boy of the News-Gazette) was the State's Attorney who let McBride and Head off. Now Julia Rietz (darling of the News-Gazette) is doing the same thing...but one anticipates with less criticism from the NG. So far, the NG online version hasn't even covered the story.
I hadn't heard anything about this. The local reaction will be interesting.
Great post, RoW.
"They also are reporting that Julia Rietz is essentially going to let him off charges of burglary (just like Luther Head and Richard McBride)..."
btw, wasn't it John Piland who dealt with Head and McBride? Your wording doesn't distinguish that, so those who are uninformed might not know, and think that Rietz was been responsible for something she wasn't.
Rumor has it that the victim, a high-profile former Illini athlete, didn't want his name involved in all of this. Could be part of the reason for the leniency -- that certainly wasn't the case in the Head/McBride situation.
lbotp
I'm assuming your response was satirical. The whole issue with the Head Mcbride affair was that the victims didn't want to get involved and at their request the case was dropped. Ms. Rietz basically said that it didn't matter what the victim wanted, Piland should have gone ahead with the prosecution.
ROW -- No, it wasn't satirical. If you recall, part of the controversy was that Mr. Piland "recommended strongly" that the victims not pursue the case for fear of reprisal, even though a few of them wanted to.
That is different from the victim clearly stating he did not want to be involved.
from the News-Gazette December 16, 2004
http://www.news-gazette.com/ngsearch/index.cfm?&page=displyStory.cfm&yearfolder=the03news&file=121603%5Fngstory%5F15096%2Etxt&search=luther%20head&theorder=asaphrase
"We said from the beginning if we could get our stuff back, we wouldn't press charges," said Solomon Brown, 21, a junior in engineering.
"They really left it up to us," Brown said of the decision whether to prosecute the men believed responsible for entering their apartment in the 100 block of East Gregory Street and hauling out hundreds of dollars worth of items.
Brown said. "The charges they were going to bring against them, four to 15 years, we thought that was kind of stiff."
"There were certain roommates that wanted to prosecute and others that didn't," he said, adding that they came to an understanding they would all do the same thing in the end.
This is disgusting. These high profile athletes get off with a slap on the wrist because of who they are. Meanwhile, our best and our brightest academics get zero recognition for their work, which is actually beneficial to society. Disgraceful.
If you read the court reports in the News Gazette, the adult diversion program is very common for first time offenders.
lbtop-my sources said the same thing.
Now, class, let's keep a closer eye on how Ms. Rietz handles the matter of one Kisan Flakes, currently pending in Champaign County Circuit Court.
Rietz, out for her own career, and to please the powers that be in Champaign County, lets rapists off ( just the ones who are her friends the rest go to prison ). Uses the children of people accused of crimes in Champaign County against them, with the power of DCFS. The way it works is that when her case falls apart against someone, she sends in her hit squad (DCFS Mark Harmon and Jennifer Davis). Jerks the children out of their homes and the says that you'll never see your kids again unless you take a plea agreement. Is this the kind of person that should hold public office?