A Winnebago County judge issued a written order June 29 dismissing charges against McHenry County State’s Attorney Investigator Michael McCleary.
McCleary was accused of using a county vehicle for personal use for more than four years at the county’s expense.
His attorney, Chris DeRango, requested Judge Joseph McGraw dismiss the case on June 24, citing prosecutorial misconduct and lack of evidence McCleary had violated any laws.
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DeRango said McGraw granted the dismissal that the investigator committed no crime by using the vehicle, but not on the prosecutorial misconduct motion.
“We were hoping for this,” DeRango said of the decision.
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Special Prosecutors Thomas McQueen and Henry Tonigan have 14 days to file a new indictment.
DeRango didn’t speculate on whether or not that would happen, but said he hoped by this time the prosecutors are seeing the writing on the wall that with initial charges filed by the prosecutors dismissed against McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi and the department’s chief investigator, Ron Salgado, it isn’t worth pursuing going after McCleary a second time.
Earlier this month, McGraw dismissed Salgado’s case, wherein he was charged with trying to get a “nephew’s” prison sentence reduced.
Initial charges filed against Bianchi had also been tossed out earlier this year. Prosecutors had refiled the charges and Bianchi’s trial is set for Aug. 1.
Meanwhile, Tonigan and McQueen want to withdraw from Bianchi’s case and will appear before McGraw July 1 in that regard. Tonigan has previously cited family health concerns and McQueen a fear of a lawsuit from Bianchi’s attorney after that case is concluded.
Terry Ekl, Bianchi's attorney, dismissed the reasons prosecutors gave for withdrawing.
“They want to bail out of a sinking ship,” Ekl scoffed.
