Former North Chicago Police Chief Michael Newsome pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of theft of government property and misallocation of funds during his tenure as chief.
The charges had originally been filed in 2012, were dismissed July 14 by Judge James Booras and were reinstated by a grand jury Wednesday at the request of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Newsome declined to comment on the situation Thursday morning after entering the plea, referring questions to his attorney.
Defense attorney Douglas Zeit told Booras at the arraignment hearing that he is mulling potential motions in response to the new indictments. The defense also requested an extension on the current Aug. 3 trial date that had been set for Newsome.
Zeit said he needed time to review the indictments and the grand jury transcript.
Booras, acknowledging the changing landscape in the case’s proceedings, tentatively scheduled a new trial date of Nov. 16. Newsome’s trial date had already been rescheduled 12 times since initially being set in May 2013.
Numerous court continuances resulted in three trial dates in 2013, six trial dates in 2014 and five trial dates so far this year.
Newsome was accused of stealing more than $140,000 from the city’s drug asset forfeiture fund following an investigation by the state’s attorney’s office. He was originally indicted in December 2012 on charges of theft of government property, a Class X felony that carries a mandatory six- to 30-year prison sentence upon conviction. Newsome also faces lesser charges of official misconduct and misallocation of funds.
Zeit had argued in a recent motion that the charges violated a three-year statute of limitation deadline that had passed between the charges and the alleged series of thefts. Booras agreed, dismissing all of the charges with the exception of official misconduct.
Assistant State’s Attorney Fred Day, however, said the statute of limitations is extended for public officials who commit offenses while still in office to cover their full time in office. He acknowledged that when the charges were initially filed, the state did not list the statute of limitations extension on charging documents.
After the indictments were reinstated Wednesday, Day said those specifications are now in place in the charging documents and he believes the concerns raised in Zeit’s past motion had been addressed.
Newsome has been free from custody after posting 10 percent of a $25,000 bond following his arrest in October 2012.
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