Posted on October 25, 2016 in Drug Charges

Drug crimes are some of the most frequently committed criminal offenses in Illinois. One common drug offense is drug delivery. The possession of a drug with the intent to deliver is another very similar drug offense. These drug charges are often asserted against alleged drug dealers.

Illinois Drug Delivery Offense

When an illegal drug actually changes hands, the offense is referred to as a drug delivery offense. However, when illegal drugs do not change hands, yet the person who is in possession of the drug was likely to have delivered the drugs to another individualwithout beingintercepted by law enforcement,the offense is referred to as possession with the intent to deliver.

Drug delivery and possession with the intent to deliver are criminal offenses, regardless of the type of drug that iscaught in your possession. For instance, you may be caught with controlled substances such as heroin, cocaine, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens or prescription drugs-all illegal under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. You could also be charged with drug delivery or possession with the intent to deliver marijuana, under 720 ILCS 550/4 of the Cannabis Control Act, or methamphetamines, under 720 ILCS 646/55 of the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act.

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 Posted on October 20, 2016 in Theft

The crime of theft encompasses many different charges under Illinois law. Not only is it a crime to commit theft by being the person who knowingly takes property belonging to another without permission, which is the case in crimes such as vehicle theft or shoplifting, but it can also be a theft crime if you end up in possession of stolen property. Similarly, it is a crime to be involved in a complicated white collar theft or fraud plot, where you might not be the ringleader of the theft, but are still a beneficiary.

In Illinois, you can be charged with a theft crime even if you are not the person who took the property from its rightful owner. To say this another way, you do nothave to be the person who physically commits the theft act; you could be a beneficiary or recipient of stolen property or money and still be just as criminally liable as the actual thief.

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 Posted on October 18, 2016 in Juvenile Crimes

Teens and young adults sometimes make poor decisions. As a result, they mayend up being charged with a crime. Teens may even beinvolved in criminal activities on a regular basis when they are caught, or theymay be first-time offenders. If your teen is involved in a crime, speaking with a skilledcriminal defense attorney is essential.

Teens, Crime, and the Statistics

Manycrimes that are committed by juvenilesoccur while they are at school.For instance, according to a 2014 National Report on Juvenile Offenders produced by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, some frightening statistics about juveniles and crime while in school in Illinois include:

• 3.9 percent of juveniles questioned reported having taken a weapon to school with them within the past 30 days prior to being surveyed;
• 7.6 percent reported having been threatened in school by a weapon possessed by a classmate;

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 Posted on October 14, 2016 in Child Custody

Differences in values and parenting philosophies can cause conflicts between two people. Not only can these differences cause difficulties with parenting after a divorce, they can be part of the reason why a couple divorced in the first place. But as a divorced parent, working cooperatively with your former spouse for your child's benefit is an important skill to develop

One way to reduce co-parenting conflicts is to understand your parenting style and that of your former partner. Developmental psychologists have identified four distinct parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Most parents' individual styles fall somewhere between two or more of these archetypes. By recognizing where your parenting style falls as well as your former partner's parenting style, you can develop a coherent parenting plan that works for all members of your family.

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 Posted on October 13, 2016 in Traffic Offenses

Foreign nationals who wish to come to the United States, either for work, school, or anotherpurpose, gain entry through a visa. Anumber of different types of visas are awarded based on the reason for the foreign national’s stay in the United States. However,there are also many restrictions on visas. If these restrictions are violated, one’s visa can berevoked by the U.S. government. For instance, a visa can be revoked if the visa holder is convicted of committing a crime in the United States.

Barred From Re-entry Into the U.S.

Being convicted of a criminal offense in the United States is often a violation of the terms of your visa. Therefore,if you leave the country and try and return to the United States, you will most likely be barred from re-entry into the United States by immigration officers at the airport, or via your port of entry. Moreover, youcould be denied entry into the United States for years.

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 Posted on October 11, 2016 in Vehicular Hijacking

Stealing a motor vehicle is a serious offense in Illinois. There are severaldifferent theft crimes that involve the unauthorized taking of a vehicle, and state prosecutors do not take kindly to criminal defendants who allegedly take things that do not belong to them. Theft crimes involving a vehicle include stealing a car, trespass to a motor vehicle, carjacking, and failure to return a rental vehicle. If you are facing criminal charges that involve the theft of a vehicle, you need to get in touch with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.

Stealing a Car

In Illinois there is no specific statute focused directly on the theft of a vehicle. Instead, when a car is stolen state prosecutors pursue the criminal defendant under the traditional Illinois theft statute. Car theft is committed when a person knowingly takes a vehicle belonging to another without permission and with the intent to deprive the vehicle’s owner of the use of the vehicle permanently.

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 Posted on October 06, 2016 in Theft

Delivering a forged check, a check that is not signed by the real owner of the checking account or a check that is fabricated or altered in some way, is considered to be a deception-based criminal offense under 720 ILCS 5/17-1(B). When a person tries to pass off a forged or fake check as if it were a real check, the person is trying to knowingly defraud the check’s recipient in order to financially benefit from the deception. Check forgery is a form of theft.

What is Required to Prove Check Forgery?

Someone who is facing charges for check forgery in Illinois will be mercilessly prosecuted by the state. In order to get a check forgery conviction, the state prosecutor must show:

1. That the defendant knowingly made or altered a check;
2. The purpose of defrauding another;
3. Where the check was made or altered to look like it was issued by another; and

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 Posted on October 04, 2016 in Drug Charges

Cocaine is a very popular drug that acts as a stimulant; people who use this drug experience an energetic high. Cocaine can be consumed in a number of different ways, including injection, inhalation, or by snorting it up the nose. While the drug may have some initial stimulating effects, cocaine has a lot of serious health consequences.

Cocaine is a highly addictive illegal drug that has lead to many individuals facing drug charges. They might have been charged with cocaine possession, cocaine distribution, or trafficking. What all of these drug offenses have in common is that they are all felonies. How serious the offense is depends on a number of factors-a history of cocaine drug offenses, the amount of drugs involved, where the drugs were found (e.g., a drug sale near a school or truck stop) and to whom the drugs were sold (e.g., minors, pregnant women, etc.).

Cocaine Drug Offenses Carry Years of Jail Time

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 Posted on September 30, 2016 in Divorce

There are many reasons why couples choose to end their marriages. In the state of Illinois, couples have the choice of ending their marriage either through divorce or annulment. Divorces and annulments are similar in terms of making a determination about a couple’s marital status.

However, they differ because while a divorce legally ends a valid and existing marriage, an annulment is the legal process used to end a marriage that was never valid. In Illinois, this is referred to as a “Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage.” This effectively makes it as if both parties were never married in the first place – as far as the government is concerned.

Grounds for a Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage

Grounds for annulment may vary in different states and legal jurisdictions. However, Illinois recognizes only a few circumstances as grounds for a Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage, including:

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 Posted on September 30, 2016 in Domestic Violence

The Illinois courts and law enforcement do not take kindly to those who are accused of committing domestic battery. Causing bodily harm to a family or household member, or insulting, provoking, or threatening them, is a serious criminal matter in Illinois. When a person is accused of domestic battery, it is critically important that they fight the charges that are lodged against them because even a first-time conviction carries severe and long-lasting consequences. An experienced criminal defense attorney can help.

Below are three reasons why you need to fight your domestic battery charges.

1. A domestic battery conviction means you will have a criminal record. Even if your fight with a family or household member was just a minor dispute that got out of hand, the court will look at the altercation as a serious crime. Even a first-time offense for domestic battery is typically a misdemeanor level offense. But a domestic battery charge can be upgraded to a felony-level offense in certain situations, such as when a protection order was violated, when you have a record of prior domestic battery convictions, or when other aggravating factors were involved.

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