DOJ Project Safe Neighborhoods - Gets Substantially Enhanced Prison Sentences

An article in the Chicago Tribune caught my attention this afternoon. It dealt with an individual that was indicted in Lake County, IL [Grayslake] for a string of armed robberies. He was originally charged in state court but then his case was transferred to Federal Court as part of something called the Safe Neighborhoods Initiative run by the US Dept. of Justice. The article indicates that while the perp in that case was indicted on sixteen counts, each count of which carried a penalty of up to life in prison!!!

Given the rash of armed robberies in South Evanston over the past several months isn't this something that EPD should be looking into together with the Cook County States Attorney.Deshawn Gillette was arrested on February 24,2014 and charged with one count of a Class X Felony and given $350K bail on a D bond which means that for $35K he was sprung on bail. The individual in Grayslake was remanded to Federal custody and bail was DENIED. 

It seems that it would have been much more fitting to see Mr. Gillette facing life in prison and being denied bail than the way this happened. It seems to prove that the methods exist to properly remove vermin from the community but the tools have to be applied to achieve an appropriate result.