Attorney Raymond George Wigell's Legal Cases

Criminal defense

Felony Dismissed - Possession of Controlled Substance, Cocaine

Jan 14, 2014

OUTCOME: CASE DISMISSED - Possession of Controlled Substance (PCS), Cocaine, Class 4 Felony

A 28 year old Female is stopped at 3:00AM for a bogus traffic stop in suburb of Cook County, Illinois. Questionable search of the vehicle yields baggie of white powder which field tests positive as coc ... aine. State offer of probation is rejected by our experienced defense lawyer. Judge after hearing evidence finds of No Probable Cause at Preliminary Hearing, felony case DISMISSED. Expungement of felony arrest is anticipated.

Criminal defense

Aggravated Possession of Child Pornography

Jan 10, 2014

OUTCOME: PROBATION (30 months), NO Jail or Prison Sentence

A 34 year old male charged with 3 counts of Aggravated Possession of Child Pornography (Class 2 felonies subject to 3-7 years in prison to be served consecutively) and 4 counts of Possession of Child P ... ornography (Class 3 felonies subject to 2-5 years in prison). Client gave a statement admitting the allegations. Investigation was initiated by Internet Cyber crime task force. We developed extensive mitigation presentation to ameliorate the allegations. The Prosecution requested the sentence include significant (IDOC, Illinois Department of Corrections)Prison time consistent with the charges. Judge agrees with Raymond's argument that probation is the appropriate sentence.

Criminal defense

Possession of Child Pornography

Jan 08, 2014

OUTCOME: NO PRISON sentence, 180 days Work Release

A 26 year old male is charged with 12 counts of Possession of Child Pornography in DuPage County, Illinois. Two of the twelve counts were Class X felonies which are non-probationable and carry a manda ... tory minimum of 6 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections(IDOC). At the time of the execution of a search warrant our client waived his Miranda rights and gave a statement that admitted the allegations. After extensive negotiations and the preparation of a detailed mitigation presentation the prosecution agrees to go forward on one of the charges and dismisses the remaining 11 counts. No prison sentence ordered by judge with 180 days of work release and probation.

Criminal defense

Grooming and Indecent Solicitation of a Minor

Jan 06, 2014

OUTCOME: No Prison Sentence, 29 days in county jail and 30 months probation. I was interviewed by the local newspaper about this case. It was a featured news story by Investigative reporter Phil Rogers from NBC WMAQ, Chicago.

A 37 year old male charged with Felony Grooming(Class 4 subject to 1-3 years in Prison) and an Indecent Solicitation of a Minor(Class 3 subject to 2-5 years in Prison). Basis of allegations is recover ... ed text messages on the "victim's" cellphone. Defend is found guilty of both charges after jury trial. We present a detailed and extensive mitigation presentation to the judge at the Sentencing hearing. Resulting in 29 days in county jail, NO prison sentence and 30 months probation.

White collar crime

Identity Theft, Theft >100,000.00, Financial Loan Fraud, Forgery

Dec 16, 2013

OUTCOME: NOT GUILTY on ALL Counts after 5+ day jury trial

Seller of Property accused of Count 1. Identity Theft, Counts 2 &3 Theft >100,000.00, Count 4 Financial Loan Fraud, and Count 5. Forgery. State has @1200 pages of documents and list of witnesses that ... implicate our client. Creative and aggressive Defense Motions in Limine restrict the State's ability to connect our client to the wrongdoing. Motion to sever our client's case from co-defendant's case is sustained. Defense's meticulous attention to detail and synopsis yields multiple demonstrative exhibits. Co-defendant found guilty of all counts; our client is found NOT GUILTY on ALL COUNTS.

Criminal defense

Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse

Sep 27, 2013

OUTCOME: Actual Result less than 6 months in prison. Sentence: 3 years IDOC with day for day good time resulting in 18 months in prison less credit for 12 months time served.

30+ year old male charged in 5 count indictment with ongoing and repeated Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse of 15 year old female in Cook County, Illinois. State's witness provides statement that defen ... dant was observed and interrupted during one of the "incidents". Each count has a potential sentence of 3-7 years in prison.

Criminal defense

Possession of Child Pornography

Sep 11, 2013

OUTCOME: Probation

Cyber crime multi-jurisdictional task force investigation and search warrant yields a Grand Jury Indictment charging our client with (4) counts of Possession of Child Pornography. Each count is a Clas ... s 2 felony that carries a potential sentence of 3-7 years in prison. The sentencing statute applicable in this case requires that if convicted and sentenced to prison the sentence on each of the four counts must be served consecutively. In this case that would require a minimum of 3 years followed by 3 years for each count of conviction. (That is 3 years in prison, then 3 years in prison, then 3 years in prison and then 3 years in prison if convicted on all four(4) counts.) At the time of the execution of search warrant and after receiving Miranda warnings our Client gave a detailed statement admitting Possession of Child Pornography to law enforcement officers. A rigorous review of the forensic evidence indicated that the state would able to meet it's burden of proving the elements of each of the four (4) counts in the Indictment beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecution argues that our client should be sentenced to prison consistent with the statute. After obtaining a Psycho-Sexual Evaluation I argue and advocate for our client requesting that he not go to prison but rather be placed on Probation.

Federal crime

United States of America v. Musiliu Balogun

Sep 05, 2013

OUTCOME: Potential sentence of 30+ years to life. Mr. Balogun was sentenced to 108 months in prison with potential credit of 63 months. Preliminary calculations indicate that he will serve less than 29 months.

Our Client was characterized as the leader of an International Heroin Drug Conspiracy extending throughout South East Asia, Africa, Europe, Central America and U.S.A. The organization was said to be 1 ... of the world's largest heroin networks. Court documents state that the network extended from Thailand to Chicago. He was extradited from Holland(Netherlands) and was facing 30+ years to life in prison on a multi-defendant, multi-count U.S. Indictment. I was interviewed by the local and international press about this case. My comments were published internationally by the Associated Press (AP).

Criminal defense

Possession of Child Pornography

Aug 28, 2013

OUTCOME: Probation

Man charged in what the media characterized as one of the largest Child Pornography cases to date. Reports that as much as 3 terabytes of suspect contraband media was found at our client's residence p ... ursuant to a search warrant. Several computers, cell phones, thumb drives, DVDs, and other electronic devices were seized. The search warrant was executed by a multi-jurisdictional task force. Our client was initially sentenced to 4 years in prison and placed in custody. My law firm's defense team of lawyers, paralegals and forensic experts prepared, filed and argued a Motion to Reconsider the Sentence. After several months the court allowed the Motion to Reconsider, set a release from jail date of 09/09/2013 and placed our client on Intensive Probation. Never, Never, Never Give Up.

Criminal defense

Drug Induced Homicide (Heroin)

N/A

OUTCOME: Result-Less than 4 Years IDOC

Our client was charged with Drug Induced Homicide and Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Will County. Our client and a co-defendant were accused of delivering (selling) heroin to the decedent. It ... was also alleged that the decedent died as a result of ingesting the aforementioned heroin. Drug Induced Homicide is a Class X Felony, punishable from 6-30 years in the penitentiary. It is non-probationable and requires the accused to serve a mandatory prison sentence. An individual serving a sentence under this charge must serve at least 75% of their sentence before being eligible for Mandatory Supervised Release (Formerly known as parole). The offense is non-probationable. Delivery of a Controlled Substance is typically a Class 2 Felony punishable from 3-7 years in the penitentiary. However, the client faced an extended sentencing range from 3-14 years due to a prior conviction in his background. An individual convicted under this charge must serve at least 50% of their sentence before being eligible for Mandatory Supervised Release. The client’s parents were fearful that the client would ultimately end up spending the rest of his life prison. After entering the case, the attorneys and support staff at Wigell Criminal Defense immediately began to work on the client’s case. The attorneys and support staff conducted a thorough and detailed analysis of the discovery, extensive legal research, and conferred with the client on multiple occasions at Will County Jail. It was determined that there were some weaknesses in the State’s case but that there were also some strengths that were not in our client’s favor. It was also determined that the strengths of the State’s case created a strong possibility of being convicted if the case proceeded to trial. The State made an initial offer of extensive penitentiary time in exchange for a plea of guilty to the charges. The State indicated that they were unwilling to deviate from their position on the case. In a strategic decision in negotiating on the client’s behalf, the case proceeded to a 402 Conference. A 402 conference is a meeting between the Judge, State's Attorneys and Defense Attorneys where mitigating and aggravating factors are presented to the Judge. The Judge then takes all factors into consideration and makes a recommendation for sentencing. During the conference, the Defense informed the Judge of all the mitigating factors including the client's struggle with drug addiction, the weaknesses in the State’s case and the client’s personal background. The State informed the Judge of all of the aggravating factors which were premised upon the allegations of the charges. Further conversations with the Judge resulted in a final recommendation of 6 ½ years on the Drug Induced Homicide charge a concurrent sentence on the Delivery of a Controlled Substance charge. Resulting in less than 4 years in prison after credit for time served. The client and his parents were grateful for all the hard work and dedication of Wigell Criminal Defense in the client’s case. They were grateful with the result that the client would serve a shorter prison sentence on a serious charge that essentially carried a life sentence. This result gives the client an opportunity to be able to have a meaningful life after being released from the penitentiary.

Raymond George Wigell's Legal Cases (18)

Felony Dismissed - Possession of Controlled Substance, Cocaine

Aggravated Possession of Child Pornography

Possession of Child Pornography

Grooming and Indecent Solicitation of a Minor

Identity Theft, Theft >100,000.00, Financial Loan Fraud, Forgery

Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse

Possession of Child Pornography

United States of America v. Musiliu Balogun

Possession of Child Pornography

Drug Induced Homicide (Heroin)