The Law Offices of Kathleen Colton, Ltd.
Criminal Defense / P.O. Box 1364 / St. Charles, IL 60174
SOSA GIRLFRIEND CHARGED WITH WITNESS HARASSMENT
(Gesture taken seriously: Plano woman accused of threatening sergeant who was
Testifying against gang member)
The Beacon News, September 28, 1995
By Bill Catching
Beacon News Staff
Aurora, - The girlfriend of a high-ranking Aurora gang member who recently was sentenced to 30 years in prison has been charged with harassment of a witness.
Martha Jimenez, 29, of Plano, is accused of shaping her hand like a gun and acting like she was shooting an Aurora police sergeant after he testified against her boyfriend two months ago, authorities said.
After a court hearing Wednesday, Jimenez’s attorney Kathleen Colton, said her client may have made an obscene gesture toward the officer, but did not threaten him at all. “This just goes to prove that the Kane County state’s attorney’s office could indict a ham sandwich,” she said.
Patrick Crimmins, head of the gang crimes prosecution unit in the state’s attorney’s office said, “anytime there’s a crime committed against a witness or a police officer, we’re going take those offenses seriously.
“These are dangerous times, “ he said.
Crimmins had to look no farther than the front of the Kane County Judicial Center for a reminder. Flags flew at half-mast on Wednesday for a prosecutor who was shot and killed by a hooded gunman two days before in Boston.
If convicted, Jimenez faces a potential prison sentence of three to seven years.
Plano officers arrested Jimenez at her home on Tuesday. Family members raised $3000.00 in cash to bail her out of jail the same day so she wouldn’t miss work, Colton said.
Colton criticized the arrest as unnecessary.
“This is a woman with four small children with Jose “Junior” Sosa, whom Crimmins called the one of the most dangerous men at a July 28 sentencing hearing.
Sosa, 28, formerly of 1100 block of Lebanon Street, is serving a 30-year sentence for attempted murder.
Sosa was convicted as an accomplice in a Sept. 20, 1994, drive-by shooting. He failed to convince a jury of his alibi defense, although the alleged gunman was acquitted in a separate jury trial. It was Sosa’s second conviction for attempted murder.
In 1998, Sosa was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of armed violence and attempted murder. Like many Illinois prisoners, he was released after serving less than half his sentence.
After Sosa’s second attempted-murder conviction, Aurora Mayor David Pierce called publicity for the gang member to get the maximum sentence.
Judge Melvin Dunn replied by calling Pierce a “bully” for making the remarks, but sentenced Sosa to the maximum 30 years in prison.
