Crime & Safety

Charges Mount in Teen Burglary Case

State's Attorney adds felony marijuana possession charge to home invasion, burglary and more.

The case of two Deerfield teenagers accused of invading a Highland Park home in August and appeared on the verge of settling earlier this month became more complex today in Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan.

Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Steve Sheller told Judge Daniel Shanes he was adding a claim of unlawful possession of marijuana, a Class 4 Felony, to the existing 10 counts of the indictment against Joshua Norris and Joseph Mahoney, both 18, of Deerfield.

Earlier: Judge Suggests Probation Possible in Teen Burglary Case

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Earlier this month, Shanes admonished Mahoney and Norris to make good decisions while they were free on bail because probation was an option in any sentence or plea negotiation that might take place. At that time, attorneys for the defendants suggested the case might end today.

When Sheller told the court of the additional charge, the timing changed. Shanes continued the case until June 11 for a pretrial and set a trial date of July 8. “If I set it then I want you to reach a settlement or we’re going to have a trial,” he said.

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The possession count stems from the original investigation following the home invasion in August and has nothing to do with anything Norris or Mahoney have done since then, according to Sheller. He said it was the reason for the delay.

“They need time to look at the new charge,” Sheller said of the defense attorneys’ reasons for wanting more time. “I just gave it to them and have to get them the information. They’ve never seen it before.”

Shanes again told Mahoney and Norris their behavior and decision making in the next few months will weigh heavily in any decision he makes in the ultimate resolution of the case.

“One of the things I look at are the choices you have made, the choices you made in the first place and the ones you will have made while you’re out on bond.” Shanes said. “Make sure that you make good ones.”

One of the residents of the Highland Park home Norris and Mahoney were charged with invading, .

At that time Mahoney attorney Chris Cronson suggested there was a relationship between three men. “It came out at the bond hearing (for Norris and Mahoney) that he (Lynn) was a previous source of supply for marijuana,” Cronson said in August. “They weren’t just throwing darts at a dart board.”

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