People v. Shelton

624 N.E.2d 1205, 252 Ill. App. 3d 193, 191 Ill. Dec. 827, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1219
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 11, 1993·No. 1-90-1233·Published·Cited by 28 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE RIZZI

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant, Linda Shelton, was found guilty of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 56x/2, par. 1401(a)), bribery (HI. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 33 — 1(e)), and official misconduct (111. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 33 — 3(b)). Defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of 12 years for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, seven years for bribery and five years for official misconduct. We affirm in part and vacate in part.

The issues before this court for review are (1) whether the trial court erred in failing to obtain a waiver of defendant’s constitutional right to testify; (2) whether the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was guilty of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, bribery and official misconduct beyond a reasonable doubt; (3) whether this cause must be remanded for a new sentencing hearing on the basis that the trial court erred in sentencing defendant pursuant to the one-act-one-crime doctrine, since a single act was the basis for defendant’s sentence for two counts of bribery, and three counts of official misconduct, because another single act formed the basis for defendant’s sentence for two more counts of bribery, and because defendant’s sentence for six counts of official misconduct was based upon the same act as the sentences for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver; (4) whether defendant is entitled to a new sentencing hearing on the basis that she was wrongly penalized for inmate overcrowding at the Cook County jail; and (5) whether defendant’s sentences were excessive.

Defendant worked as a guard at the Cook County jail from May of 1985 through July of 1988. On December 11, 1987, defendant was arrested and charged with official misconduct, bribery and intent to deliver controlled and look-alike substances.

Agents James Kizart and Tommy Wofford testified for the State. Agent Kizart testified that he had been an Illinois State Police undercover agent for approximately 14 years. Agent Kizart further testified that the following events occurred just prior to defendant’s arrest. Agent Kizart had his initial contact with defendant at approximately 9 p.m. on November 24, 1987, when he returned a page and she answered the telephone. During the telephone conversation, defendant identified herself as “Linda” and stated that she was calling to make arrangements to pick up a package for “Melvin.” Agent Kizart recalled that defendant told him she was a guard at the Cook County-jail and that she wanted to deliver the package during her shift. Defendant then asked Agent Kizart if she could pick up the package that evening so that she would not be late to work. Agent Kizart told defendant that he would deliver the package to her the next day.

Agent Kizart telephoned defendant at approximately 11 a.m. on November 25, 1988, at which time he told her that he was ready to deliver the package. They agreed to meet outside of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant located at 75th Street and South Lafayette in Chicago, Illinois, around noon. Defendant told Agent Kizart that she would be driving an orange and white Oldsmobile Cutlass. Defendant also inquired about the contents of the package she would be receiving and Agent Kizart told her that the package would contain .5 ounce of cocaine. The package to be used actually contained the substance aspertimine, an artificial sweetener, and was labeled “MikeVaO.”

Agent Kizart then went to the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise at noon on November 25, 1988, where he gave defendant the package. Defendant asked Agent Kizart if the package contained heroin. Agent Kizart told defendant that the package contained cocaine. Agent Kizart also gave defendant $100 for herself and $50 for Melvin. Defendant put the money and the package in her pocket.

Agent Kizart then offered defendant $500 to serve as an escort when he made drug deliveries. Defendant agreed to serve as his escort and asked him if he was a drug dealer. Agent Kizart told defendant that he was a drug dealer. Defendant then asked him how much cocaine she could purchase from him for $500. Agent Kizart told defendant that he only dealt in ounce amounts which normally ran between $900 and $1,200 per ounce; however, he agreed to sell her cocaine for $600 an ounce. Defendant asked Agent Kizart if he offered her a price reduction because of her “badge” and Agent Kizart replied in the affirmative.

Agent Kizart then inquired as to when Melvin would receive the drugs and defendant stated that she would personally deliver them between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Before exiting the car, Agent Kizart told defendant that he would contact her in the coming weeks in order to orchestrate another drug delivery to Melvin. Defendant said “okay” and Agent Kizart got out of the car at approximately 12:10 p.m. at which time he observed and memorized defendant’s license plate number. Upon returning to his squad car, he researched the number in his portable computer database and discovered that the license number was registered to defendant.

Agent Kizart telephoned defendant on the evening of November 28, 1987. Defendant told him that some men in a blue car stopped her and stole her badge, her gun and the drugs. Agent Kizart told defendant that nothing could be done about the badge or the gun but that she should not be concerned about the drugs because he gave her the package in order to determine whether or not she could really smuggle drugs into the Cook County jail. Agent Kizart then promised defendant that he would give her another package for Melvin.

On December 9, 1987, Agent Kizart obtained reversed role authorization, a consent to overhear and two crime-lab-prepared packages of cocaine. Telephone conversations between defendant and Agent Kizart were hereinafter recorded. Agent Kizart telephoned defendant later on that same day and told her that he wanted to give her more drugs to take to Melvin. Defendant was pleased. On December 10, 1987, Agent Kizart called defendant again to set up another appointment to meet at the same parking lot where they met before, at approximately 2 p.m. on the following day.

Agent Kizart received an unexpected page from defendant shortly after midnight on December 11, 1987. She wanted the agent to give her the cocaine so that she would be able to deliver the drugs later during the day. Defendant then told the agent that she had previously delivered drugs to numerous inmates, including Melvin. She also asked the agent to bring her some cocaine for her own personal use.

Agent Kizart called defendant later on December 11, 1987, from a pay telephone and verified the scheduled 2 p.m. meeting. The agent pulled into the Kentucky Fried Chicken parking lot at 75th and Lafayette around 1:55 p.m. and saw defendant standing in the lot. Agent Kizart parked and defendant got into his car. The agent gave defendant a package containing 16.3 grams of crime-lab-prepared cocaine and a second package containing 27.5 grams of a crime-lab-prepared look-alike drug for defendant herself. Agent Kizart also gave defendant $100 in prerecorded funds.

During the conversation in the car, defendant admitted to having smoked cocaine and delivered drugs to someone named Tony Rome.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Shelton, 624 N.E.2d 1205, 252 Ill. App. 3d 193, 191 Ill. Dec. 827, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1219 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

624 N.E.2d 1205 (People v. Shelton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Smith
2017 IL App (1st) 151643 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2018)
People v. James
2017 IL App (1st) 143036 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)
People v. McFadden
2014 IL App (1st) 102939 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
State v. Denson
2011 WI 70 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2011)
People v. Joshua B.
941 N.E.2d 1032 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
People v. Whiting
849 N.E.2d 125 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006)
People v. Radford
835 N.E.2d 127 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2005)
People v. Vaughn
821 N.E.2d 746 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2004)
In re Scribner
Vermont Superior Court, 2004
State v. Reynolds
670 N.W.2d 405 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 2003)
Napoleon English v. Thomas Page, 1
132 F.3d 36 (Seventh Circuit, 1998)
People v. Smith
680 N.E.2d 291 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1997)
People v. Hanson
652 N.E.2d 824 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1995)
People v. Medrano
648 N.E.2d 218 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1995)
People v. Feyrer
646 N.E.2d 1244 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Mason
644 N.E.2d 13 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Lester
634 N.E.2d 356 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Burchette
628 N.E.2d 1014 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
People v. Favors
626 N.E.2d 1265 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)