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Map destination disputed during Tezak arson hearingBy Tamara SharmanA map penned by former WillCounty Coroner Robert Tezak was not to guide hired killers to an associate he allegedly wanted dead, a defense attorney said Monday.During an ongoing sentencing hearing in a federal arson-for-profit case, attorney Steven Popuch noted the location of an “X” on the map and claimed the drawing was to show a fellow prisoner’s girlfriend the way to a Joliet car dealership where Tezak had influence to get the woman a good deal on a vehicle.On May 16, convicted thief Sheldon Shannon testified that Tezak asked him to arrange the murder of labor official Kenneth Floyd while Shannon and Tezak were both housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.Floyd was a co-conspirator in Tezak’s arson-for-profit activities and a potential witness against Tezak. The former coroner claimed Floyd was preventing him from being released on bond.Tezak remains jailed at the MCC. The on-again, off-again sentencing hearing is taking place in the Dirksen Federal Building courtroom of U.S. District Judge Wayne R. Andersen.According to testimony from Shannon, Tezak changed his mindabout the killing but still paid Shannon $1,000 for his aborted efforts.But Popuch maintained that the money was actually to help Shannon’s girlfriend pay for a car.He claimed Shannon concocted the murder-for-hire scenario so he could convince prosecutors to have him sent to a halfway house for the last part of his sentence.Shannon denied that was the reason behind his testimony about Tezak. “It was time for me to make a change,” the admitted career criminal told Popuch.Shannon has served 13 months of an 18-month sentence for mail theft. The last few months will be spent at a halfway house, he indicated.When the sentencing hearingcontinues on Aug. 5 before Judge Andersen, the defense is expected to try to cast doubt on Shannon’s allegations with testimony from four other prisoners.In October, Tezak pleaded guilty to hiring others in 1987 to burn down a Crest Hill bowling alley he owned to gain the insurance money and to threatening to kill a potential witness against him.As part of a plea agreement, federal prosecutors will dismiss charges that he hired others in 1987 to torch a downtown Joliet building he owned to collect insurance money and to destroy records kept there that were wanted by a federal grand jury in an investigation of others.Tezak admitted his guilt in the Joliet blaze, however.The former coroner faces about 19 years in prison, restitution,fines and a term of supervised release.Vehicle operators cited by policeTwo men were cited for improper operation of all-terrain vehicles after a collision Saturday evening in New Lenox Township on Parker Road one-quarter mile north of Route 6.Edward Rauner, 25, of 16539 88th Court in Orland Hills, and Mark Thompson, 23, of 18555 Parker Road in Mokena, were taken to Silver Cross Hospital, Joliet, after the collision.A witness told Will County sheriffs police that the two vehicles were traveling south on Parker Road and appeared to be trying topass one another when their tiresbumped and the riders werethrown from the vehicles.
Newspaper Details
New Lenox Star
New Lenox, Illinois, US
Thu, Jun 30, 1994
Page 10
Full Page
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AZ, USA 30 Jan 2020
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New Lenox Star
