Judge's Son on 2nd Heroin Case in 6 Years Can Get Out in 4 Months
The son of former Will County Chief Judge Rodney Lechwar was sentenced to eight years in prison but can do as little as four months, said the prosecutor who agreed to his plea deal.
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When Will County Judge Rodney Lechwar's son Matthew was arrested for allegedly dealing heroin in 2006, the 24-year-old got his charge dropped by successfully completing a special drug court program.
When he was again arrested on a heroin rap six years later, Matthew Lechwar took a plea deal brokered by his attorney and a special prosecutor that could see him sprung from prison in as little as four months.
Matthew Lechwar's actual sentence was for eight years in prison, but at the request of his attorney, George Lenard, and special prosecutor Charles Colburn, Judge Edward Burmila recommended Matthew Lechwar as a candidate for the Department of Corrections' Impact Incarceration program.
Burmila accepted Matthew Lechwar's plea and made his recommendation during a court hearing Thursday.
Often referred to as "boot camp," the Impact Incarceration program allows prisoners to avoid lengthy prison sentences by participating in a paramilitary-style rehabilitation program for 120 to 180 days.
If the convict fails to complete the program, he must serve out his sentence.
Matthew Lechwar, 30, was initially ineligible for the Impact Incarceration because he was charged with a class X felony for allegedly holding between 15 and 100 grams of packaged heroin when he was grabbed by narcotics agents in March.
Fortunately for Matthew Lechwar, Colburn changed the indictment and dropped the charge to a class 1 felony. Colburn explained to Judge Burmila that testing revealed that the agents from the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad must have made a mistake, as Matthew Lechwar really only had a little more than 14 grams of heroin on him when he was arrested. That amount falls just under the threshold for a Class X felony.
Not only would the class X have kept Matthew Lechwar out of the Impact Incarceration program, it also could have put him in prison for as long as 30 years.
The narcotics agents arrested Matthew Lechwar, a Channahon resident, along with Tanya Roe, also of Channahon, during a traffic stop. The agents found the heroin in Lechwar's coat, Colburn said during Thursday's hearing.
Roe pleaded guilty in June. She was sentenced to the 77 days she had already served in jail and probation.
Matthew Lechwar's father, Rodney Lechwar, served as a judge from 1985 until 2010 and was the chief judge in Will County from 1997 to 2003. For 10 years prior to becoming a judge, Rodney Lechwar was a Will County prosecutor.
Rodney Lechwar is now a mediator with ADR Systems, "the Chicago area’s largest alternative dispute resolution service."
In addition to Matthew Lechwar's 2006 unlawful delivery of heroin case, he has a 2000 possession of cannabis conviction out of Kendall County, a 2003 driving under the influence conviction in Will County, a 2004 possession of a controlled substance conviction from Grundy County, and a 2010 possession of a controlled substance conviction out of Cook County, Colburn said during the hearing.
The Cook County conviction landed Lechwar in the Department of Corrections on a one-year sentence.
Dawn
7:31 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
Who is going to take responsiblity for all the lives he is destroying by getting our kids hooked on heroin for his own profit? If he was just a user, get help, get clean but he is getting other people hooked and ruining their lives and families for profit. And, they made a mistake about the amount of heroin he had on him. Ha what a joke.
Flora Dora
9:10 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
If he does the boot camp successfully - great. But I wonder. Addicts are never cured.
Formereastside
9:20 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
Sounds like he has been in several programs in order to get previuos charges dropped. I highly doubt this go round will work either. But good luck to you and great to know we kept Glasgow in office to continue family favors.
naabt
12:36 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
Get help for heroin and painkiller addictions in a doctor’s office with the prescription medication buprenorphine. Go to TreatmentMatch.org - a free and confidential way to find certified doctors who can help. Learn more about bupe at naabt.org
Nan Ci
1:40 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
He is a 2x convicted drug dealer of heroin! If he was a black kid from the ghetto..they would never have let him out the first time.
Long time joliet
1:37 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
very true, if he were any minority or a poor white person people would be like we need to stop the drugs give him life , but since it was someone connected to joliets high society , he needs help and another chance because he is a addict not a drug dealer, haha what a joke
laura broadwell
2:16 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
laura broadwell
2:02 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
nobody gets someone else hooked on heroin.keep sticking our heads in the sand parents,keep blaming everybody else.everyone is responsible for themselves.even your precious angels included!sure this guy should be in jail a long time ago,but everything is someone elses fault.its the junkys fault!stop blaming everybody except the junky brats.thin the herd,natural selection, whatever you want to call it.dont worry they will all die off.
Time Is Money
2:23 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
Look at all the perks special prosecutor sentence reduced from a class x so that he would be eligible for boot camp coincidentally the judge excepted his request the (quote ) SPECIAL prosecutor CHANGED the indictment & dropped it to a class 1 can the story get any better? DAMN CLUTCHE what you got to say about this one? People of color get the hell out of Illinois and don't look back
JEG
2:24 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
Another high profile case belittled. Gee we all should have connections !! This man will never learn cause Daddy and friends bail him out.
cathy
2:31 pm on Saturday, November 10, 2012
what a joke
kristina
8:04 pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
so u people know they did make a huge mistake they weighed the foil in which the dope was in increasing the weight by alot which was why it got dropped if u people know the lechwars then u would know his parents would not find a way to give him a break and believe the longer he sits there the more help he can get, also u people dont realise that he has already spent 8 months in county will do another month just sittin in statesville and then the 4 month boot camp thats over a year also he is not some big bad dealer selling dope to ur kids he was an addict and picked up for himself he needes help just like i did i should know im his girlfriend and i have eight months clean
David S
10:17 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Good for u Kristina heroin is just bad it kills it doesn't matter where you live color age or sex it doesn't discriminate stay strong and clean its very hard I know
Dawn
10:21 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The original story in the paper said he had 72 bags of heroin or over 30 grams. That is one big mistake if he only had 14 grams. If that is just for himself than he must shop at the Costco of drugs.
Richard Ramirez
3:43 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
Matt was on my bowling team when we were little. I think the real tragedy here is not taking home the pee wee league trophy. I am also a witness to him smoking a cigarette before he was 18. Whatever happened to POGS?