Bruno Law Offices

Man charged for sexual abuse of a minor

Posted on April 27th, 2013 No Comments

A man is being held currently at the Champaign County Jail on a bond of $75,000 for allegedly touching a six-year-old girl inappropriately.

Thirty-five-year-old Gregory Allen Pruett of Thomasboro, Illinois claimed he was innocent of charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under age 13 last Tuesday, April 23.

Police investigations revealed that the girl was at the suspect’s house in Block 500, Pearl Drive on or around March 3 when the incident happened, according to Thomasboro Police Chief Keith Willis.

Pruett was arrested April 22 at his residence by Thomasboro police after the authorities had investigated a complaint placed by the victim’s mother against the suspect on March 10. Acting on the report, Thomasboro police filed the report at the Champaign County state attorney’s office and obtained a warrant to arrest Pruett.

The penalties associated with an aggravated sexual abuse charge can be significant and life-altering. As such, it is critical to have a lawyer with experience defending you. Call the attorneys from the Bruno Law Offices at 217-328-6000 to find out how we can help you in such a situation.

Sexual Assault criminal defense, Sexual abuse

Concealed weapon ban rules dismissed by state prosecutors, judges

Posted on April 21st, 2013 No Comments

Although the 7^th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in December 2012 that the state law against carrying a gun in public violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms, Illinois authorities continue to enforce this ban, leaving citizens confused as to which ruling to follow.

Among those whose future lies in jeopardy is Deafalla Haddad, a 29-year-old Chicagoan father of three and a legal gun owner who would be facing up to a year of imprisonment if the ban isn’t be lifted, according to his attorney.

Haddad’s lawyer has requested that his concealed weapons charge to be dropped; the decision is pending at a Cook County court.

However, matters were complicated by Illinois Appellate Court Judge Jesse Reyes’s opinion that a 1971 Illinois Supreme Court ruling states that a federal ruling is not binding in Illinois courts if the US Supreme Court would not uphold said federal ruling.

At the Bruno Law Offices, we are always prepared to help those charged with illegal weapons possession to uphold their rights under the law.

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Medical condition saves drug cartel member from prison sentence

Posted on March 27th, 2013 No Comments

A 25-year-old Saybrook resident, who was a defendant in a McLean County drug trafficking case, was kept from getting almost a decade in prison due to a serious medical affliction that he has had since childhood.

Dustin Pulliam, who was involved in a massive marijuana shipment operation from California to multiple sources in McLean County, was given 36 months of probation instead of jail time through the Illinois Department of Corrections due to medical evidence showing that he has been suffering from cystic fibrosis since he was four months old.

Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary respiratory and digestive disease that clogs the lungs and obstructs the pancreas.

Pulliam pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in December 2012, leading to the arrest of 23-year-old Nathaniel Nowlin (sentenced to 14 years) in California, 23-year-old Wesley Harvey of Ellsworth (sentenced to 9 years), Nowlin’s 66-year-old grandmother Michelle Donnell, and Nowlin’s brother Tylor, 22.

If you have been charged with drug crimes, whether similar to those that the defendants in this case faced or a different criminal charge, you deserve to defend your rights in court. And, with the help of our lawyers at the Bruno Law Offices, you can present a strong defense for yourself. Call 217-328-6000 to discuss how we might be able to help.

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Urbana felony witness shot before being able to testify in the trial

Posted on February 22nd, 2013 No Comments

An Urbana local set to testify in a Champaign County aggravated battery trial was shot Monday, February 4, inside his apartment.

The 29-year-old victim, Curtis L. Mosley, was resting in his apartment at 1101 E. Colorado Ave at about 8:30 p.m. when an unidentified man broke into his apartment and fired a round of shots at him. He died after being rushed to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.

Mosley was scheduled to testify Tuesday against 23-year-old Urbana resident Ardis Fenn, who allegedly shot Mosley in the leg on June 12 outside the Above & Beyond Detailing shop, in an attempt to rob the place where Mosley worked. Mosley was treated for the wound he sustained and released from the hospital the same night.

The suspect, an African-American wearing a Carhartt jacket and a mask that covered the lower part of his face, was still at large as of February 6.

Being charged with theft or any other crime can be frightening and overwhelming. Fortunately, with the help of a skilled defense attorney from the Bruno Law Offices, you can be sure that you are receiving the best defense possible. Call 217-328-6000 to discuss your case and possible defenses.

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Indiana Woman Dies due to Accidental Gun Shot Wound

Posted on February 1st, 2013 No Comments

20-year-old Sydni Kay Blackwell succumbed to a lone gunshot wound after allegedly being shot accidentally by her boyfriend at a Super 8 Motel along W. Marketview Drive Friday morning.

Officers of the Champaign Police Department said that Antonio Brown, 20, was improperly using his gun when it went off and hit his girlfriend Sydni Kay Blackwell. Blackwell was taken to Carle Hospital where she later succumbed to her wound at 12:45 p.m.

Brown is currently being held at the Champaign County Jail and has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim.

Champaign criminal defense attorneys, Champaign criminal defense lawyers

Drug charges filed against Champaign man

Posted on November 7th, 2012 No Comments

Over the weekend, a 47-year-old Champaign man was arrested after police responded to a call regarding shots being fired near Fourth and Hill streets. According to the report, several shots were fired in the area, and two groups of men dispersed from the area before police arrived at the scene.

Once police arrived, they evacuated homes in the area where the shots were fired. A crashed pickup truck was discovered, and police obtained a warrant to search a home on Church Street. Once the police searched the home in the 400 block of East Church Street, they found drug paraphernalia, drugs, four separate handguns, and a Champaign man close to the premises.

The man was arrested, and charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and the unlawful possession of a firearm. He pleaded innocent to the charges set against him, and his court date was set for December 11.

If you have been charged with drug possession in Champaign, please contact the drug crime lawyers of Bruno Law Offices by calling 217-328-6000 today.

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Champaign man sells cocaine to police informant, faces drug charges

Posted on October 3rd, 2012 No Comments

A 36-year-old man was arrested and charged with distributing crack cocaine to to police informants. The man allegedly sold the informants the illegal substance on four separate occasions.

The man sold upwards of a gram to the informants three separate times, and under a gram the last time. One of the drug deals took place in close proximity to a church, which adds to the seriousness of the penalties if the man is convicted. Upon arrest, police searched his motel room, as well as his vehicle, but did not find additional drug paraphernalia.

The man is currently on parole for a 2000 drug conviction. His bond was set at $250,000, and he was ordered by a judge to return to court in November to face the charges against him.

If you are facing cocaine possession charges, you need an experienced criminal defense lawyer on your side during this process. Please contact the cocaine possession attorneys of Bruno Law Offices by calling 217-328-6000 today.

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University of Illinois student charged with sexual assault

Posted on September 6th, 2012 No Comments

A 21-year-old University of Illinois student with disabilities has been charged with the sexual assault of another student.

The alleged incident took place after a night of drinking at a bar in Champaign close to the university. The disabled student, his caretaker, and a female student with disabilities all returned to the student’s house after the bar.

According to the female student, the caretaker aided in the sexual assault attack that was carried out in the early morning hours on Friday. The woman, who requires a wheelchair to get around, reported the incident to a friend who alerted the authorities. The 21-year-old student was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault.

If you have been charged with sexual assault, you need an experienced criminal defense lawyer on your side. Please contact the criminal defense lawyers of the Bruno Law Offices by calling 217-328-6000 today.

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Jury finds Champaign man not guilty of burglary

Posted on August 2nd, 2012 No Comments

A 21-year-old Champaign man has been acquitted of burglary charges in connection to a home burglary that took place last fall in the area.

The jury in his case deliberated for approximately an hour before returning with their verdict. The trial began on Tuesday, and the verdict was read yesterday in a Champaign courtroom.

The man was accused of breaking into a woman’s residence while she was out of town, and stealing a Social Security card and a debit card. The man was linked to the crime due to a finger print that was found on a piece of mail in the home. He claimed that he had found the mail in the street, and was returning it to the woman’s mailbox, therefore touching it with his hands.

The Champaign man is still behind bars as he faces additional charges in relation to other residential burglaries that took place throughout the last year. His bond has been set at $100,000 in connection with those charges.

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Illinois man freed after murder conviction is dropped

Posted on July 9th, 2012 No Comments

After 32 years in a high-security prison, an Illinois man has been released after DNA evidence proved he was not responsible for a murder in 1980.

The man was charged and convicted of the rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl when he was a teenager. DNA testing was not available at the time of his trial, and he was convicted by a jury of his peers. The man was 19-years-old at the time.

In 2004, the prisoner asked that the DNA evidence in the case be reviewed. After the testing was completed, it was determined that another man’s DNA was present at the scene of the crime instead of the convicted man’s DNA.

If you have been accused of a crime in Illinois, you need experienced representation on your side. Please contact the criminal defense lawyers of the Bruno Law Offices by calling 217-328-6000 today.

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