Departed Racine at 1:00 a.m. and made it to the Sangamon County Courthouse in Illinois by 9:00 a.m. (stopped to rest three times) for the court appearance of North Chicago School Superintendent Sandra Ellis - accused of shoplifting nearly 500 dollars worth of goods from a Wal-Mart.
The story was handed to me by an outgoing retiring reporter from the Waukegan newsroom and briefed me on all the case details and offered suggested routes along the Interstate, which Springfield was a lot further than I imagined, knew a lot of miles were driven given all the "To St. Louis" signs along the way.
When I arrived for security checkpoint and took my seat in the courtroom, the appearance by the superintendent lasted five minutes. And there it was, 9:15 a.m. and my work in Springfield was already finished.
Phoned my news editor by phone and gave him the basic info and would be returning to the Waukegan newsroom in the afternoon to file a story.
As I sat to type out the story, the news editor came out of his office and said:
"We are going to call you time-traveler from now on."
Superintendent trial continued
November 14, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
SPRINGFIELD - North Chicago Schools
Superintendent Sandra Ellis' trial was continued again Monday due to
the high volume of jury trials in Sangamon County Judge John Belz's
courtroom. Ellis is accused of felony shoplifting in connection with
an incident July 17, 2005, at a Springfield Wal-Mart. The
superintendent is accused of shoplifting $445 in food and liquor.
"We were set for trial today, it
got continued on a motion of the defense and the judge agreed,"
said Sangamon County Prosecutor Gabe Grosball. "The judge had
other jury trials today, so he didn't have time to try this case, so
that is why the case has been continued to January."
The January court date for Ellis could
result in either a trial or plea agreement.
"Between now and January, we will
negotiate. I will make an offer and if they take it, it will happen
sometime during that week," Grosball said.
The prosecutor added if the defense
chooses not to receive the offer, it will become a jury trial.
Despite three continuances, Grosball
said, the motions are normal in most court cases, noting that some
cases take up to two years to get resolved.
The maximum penalty for felony retail
theft is three years in prison and a $2,500 fine, but due to Ellis
not having a prior criminal record, there is a chance of probation or
some small fines.
Ellis was not charged with shoplifting
until six months after the alleged incident took place due to the
priorities of the Sangamon County court system, according to
Grosball.
"Retail theft cases take longer to
file due to possibilities of restitution, but Wal-Mart received all
of its property back," Grosball said. "Since Ellis is not
in custody, we tend to prioritize more violent crimes such as
murders, rapes and other types before retail thefts."
Grosball added that the next scheduled
court appearance could be continued if suspects are in custody
because judges typically favor trying individuals in police custody
over someone who is out on bond.
Ellis should not expect preferential
treatment by the judge or prosecutor because of her position as a
school superintendent, Grosball said.
"That is not going to cause us to
treat this any different if it was (somebody) off the street,"
Grosball said. "Her position is not going to make me decide
whether or not to try this case or to make a certain plea offer."
Ellis has a long history of in public
service, most notably as a member of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Terrorism
Task Force.
Belz will determine the January court
date at a future time.
Background information...
Schools chief charged
February 25, 2006
By Ralph Zahorik
The News-Sun
NORTH CHICAGO -- New
schools Superintendent Sandra Ellis was charged
this week with felony shoplifting by the Sangamon County state's
attorney's office.
Ellis was accused of attempting to take
$445 in food and liquor from a Springfield Wal-Mart store last July
17 without paying for the items. Ellis said the accusation
is false and that she never tried to take the items without paying
for them. It isn't clear why there was a six-month delay in filing
the charge.
Ellis, in a Jan. 31 interview, before
she was formally charged, said the arrest was "a mistake"
and that she was innocent. She attributed the episode to an
overzealous, inexperienced Wal-Mart clerk. "It was mortifying,"
she said.
According to an account published July
18 in the Springfield State Journal Register based on a police
report, police were called to the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Dirksen
Parkway the day before, a Sunday, to investigate a shoplifting
complaint.
A store employee accused Ellis,
who lived in nearby Mount Pulaski, Ill., of attempting to go through
a check-out line with $445 worth of unpaid groceries and alcohol in
tied "recycle bags," a possible felony theft, the account
said.
Ellis said the bags were "silver"
freezer bags.
The newspaper said Ellis was
taken to Sangamon County Jail.
Copies of the newspaper story have been
circulating in North Chicago since Ellis was hired last
month.
She is scheduled to appear March 1 in
Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield, said Jennifer Kuntz, a
Sangamon County assistant state's attorney. The offense Ellis is
accused of is a Class 3 felony and, if convicted, she could be
sentenced to probation or she could be sentenced up to five years in
state prison, Kuntz said.
Ellis has no history of prior
offenses in Sangamon County, she said.
At the time of her arrest, Ellis was
working for the Governor's Illinois Terrorism Task Force. She was a
UniServ director -- a union field representative -- in Decatur
schools for the Illinois Education Association until March 2005.
When Ellis was appointed Dec.
14, the School Board provided a one-paragraph general statement on
the new superintendent with no specifics on her employment
history, her education or other credentials.
Information on her professional
background was provided later.
Ellis, a native of Toledo, Ohio, has a
doctorate in education administration from Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale and bachelor's and master's degrees from
Bowling Green University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
She was superintendent of
several downstate school districts before she went to work for the
IEA. They included the Brooklyn Unit District near East St. Louis,
the Mount Pulaski Unit District near Springfield, the Gillespie Unit
District near Litchfield and the Astoria Unit District in Fulton
County.
Ellis lives in both North Chicago
and Mount Pulaski. She has a rented apartment in North Chicago and
maintains a home in Mount Pulaski with her husband, Ron Ellis, a
retired Illinois state police office.
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