burglary

Two men are facing charges for conspiring to burglarize Walgreens during the civil unrest that has been plaguing Chicago since the George Floyd murder. William Lorenz, 40, and Ivan Bermudez, 42, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit burglary of a controlled substance. The two men were arrested by federal agents, meaning that they will be facing federal charges.

Conspiracy Charges

As you may have noticed, the two men are not facing charges for committing burglary, they are facing charges of conspiring to commit burglary. However, the two men were arrested after illegally entering three Walgreens stores that were closed while looting and vandalism were occurring. The complaint accuses the men of entering the stores for the purpose of removing drugs from the shelves.

Home invasions have been the fodder for criminal defense attorneys in Illinois for ages. Recently there has been a growing conversation around the response of the homeowner and whether he or she is legally protected. States like Florida have a stand-your-ground provision which has sometimes led to tragic consequences. To make matters worse, some of these incidents are alleged to involve an element of racial animus. One need only look back at the circus surrounding the George Zimmerman case to realize that self-defense is never as simple as it looks on paper when the laws are first drafted.

Burglaries are going to continue and defense lawyers are going to continue to use every trick in the book to get an acquittal or generous sentence for their clients. This article highlights some of the important considerations for the law as it stands but also the implications for defendants and homeowners.

A Law that is a Series of Compromises and Interests

Articles Tagged with burglary

Federal Authorities Arrest Two Men for Pharmacy Burglaries

Keeping the Burglars at Bay: A Review of Home Invasion Laws in Illinois