ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. — A Rolling Meadows man shot four times when two masked intruders invaded his residence in search of lottery winnings says he still worries about being home alone at night.
On Friday a Cook County judge sentenced one of his assailants to 23 years in prison.
Robert English, formerly of Berwyn, received the sentence Friday in exchange for his guilty plea to attempted first-degree murder, home invasion and aggravated battery with a firearm. All are class X felonies punishable by up to 30 years in prison. English, 35, must complete at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. He received credit for 422 days he has spent in custody since his arrest.
English's co-defendant, 49-year-old Carmine Palella of Palatine, is scheduled to stand trial on the same charges beginning Monday in Rolling Meadows.
It all began about 1:12 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2009, when the victim's friend noticed a commotion outside the house and observed two individuals wearing dark clothes and masks attempting to enter the back door, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Andre.
The individuals broke the window and door frame and entered the house, police said. During a struggle, the 42-year-old homeowner was shot four times, including two shots to the chest. He spent six days in the hospital, Andre said.
Andre said police later recorded Palella admitting he drove English and another person to the victim's house, pointed out the house and waited in the car for their return. Authorities say Palella was not aware he was being recorded at the time.
Rolling Meadows detective Phil Barrile interviewed English, who admitted he went to the house because Palella told him the victim, an Illinois State Lottery winner, had money there, Andre said. English also said he brought along a .25 caliber weapon and admitted firing it, Andre said.
English declined to speak at his sentencing. However, the homeowner and his friend, who prosecutors also named as a victim, told the court they supported the sentence.
"I believe it's a fair disposition," said Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Fecarotta. "I'm impressed that you're stepping up to the plate and admitting your crimes... I don't know that I'm impressed with your criminal history."
English's extensive criminal background includes a 2006 conviction for attempted burglary, for which he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He was sentenced to three years in a prison for a 2004 theft and six years for a 2000 armed robbery, Andre said. Prosecutors indicated English was convicted of bribery in 1998, for which he received a three-year sentence and boot camp, and defacing a firearm in 1997, resulting in a four-year sentence and boot camp. He also has several cases pending elsewhere in Cook County, Andre said.
The homeowner has recovered from his physical injuries, but he says his ability to trust other people remains impaired — especially since he once counted one of Palella's relatives among his best friends and has known the family for decades.
"I'm satisfied the plea deal was done," the other victim said of English. "But it never should have happened. He should have been off the streets 10 years ago."
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This is why you never tell anyone when you have won something big, and also hope your state lets you claim w/o a <snip> news conference or without your name published.
This is the very thing i worry about should i win a jackpot .In New York State , the Lottery wants to take pictures and have a news confernce..I dont want my 15 minutes of fame just my peace and quiet..I'm not sure if the blind trust thing works in New York State..Can anyone of my friends on LP help me out ..peace and love to you all...
Pretty face little punk.love the tats.where ever did you find your make-up artist? I hope you get them scraped off by your room-mate prison buddy.
This is why I am going to move to another state if I win. Somewhere were nobody knows me.
i thought you where allowed to shoot home invaders in USA. id move to a state where it is allowed.
Yep if I win, I would move to a gated community with security in another state and wouldn't tell anyone!
Can't really own a gun in NY, though you csan be licensed for a shotgun. Southerns are more gun loving...
Yikes, creepy looking guys. throw the book at em!
they should've been given the chance to meet
Unless you live in the roughest of the roughest neighbourhoods, I dont necessarily think the lottery commision putting your pic on their website makes you a robbery target.
Think about it, how many people are known millionares in every city? its the same.
Infact the biggest problem with being outed by the lottery commision is dealing with the constant begging from friends and neighbors and family.
In Florida if you are in fear of your life and someone enters your home by force you can blow them away. I would have no reservations greeting someone with a shotgun blast if they enter my home by force, none.
i would make like i'm the spokeman for winner.
savagegoose, i don't care what state you live in, you have the right to kill any human being who threatens you or your items
i got to xtreme points to make my point.
google the few self defence case's that have reached the United States Supreme Court if you don't think so, even the highest courts agree with my thinking
they even did a case, where a person Resisted a "False arrest" , Killed the dumb cops who was in hes mind "kidnaping him" as that what false arrest is in reality
, they had no right to arrest him in said case, and cops /state govt lost at subreme court, they agreed with "cop killer" as state made him out to public, the govt was pissed they lost. we all have a right to defend our selfs and our things we own
thro its not often talked about, why would the govt want people to know they have the right to kill their own law enforment officers if their not acting within the law!
, its best they just get sued in their minds if a false arrest happens, they are dumbing everyone down by not telling you your real rights, i had to teach my self must of what my real rights , give your self a history lesson on freedoms we had
all govt power comes form the People in USA, This must be rembed, its what really sets all govt limits on power
if no single person has the right to , how can the govt have such a right, They Don't!
govt has no right to tell you what self defence you can and can't use to protect your self , just like no single person as the right to tell you.
usa is a govt of the people, by the people, remb that and make sure no one forgets it.
you have the right to your body, and your things , let no one tell you otherwise in usa,
and no one, not even the cops have the legal right to take it away , cops can't use color of law to Harm you "aka they can't bypass your rights cease they Just wear blue uirforms", Sure as hell not any bad guys can!
i don't care what some state or fed govt thinks they have right to tell you what to do, if your life endangered, or even your being robbed at gun point, pull out your gun and pull the tigger first if you can,
, you do us all a favor, seeing as these crooks will just rob any maybe even kill someone Again in the future
with that extensive criminal background this man deserves more then 23 years, and you know it , just proves the govt Protects the Real Crimals form Real justice
yet they have time to arrest someone in their own home for smoking weed, wtf do i care if someone gets high in their own homes, am more worried about drunks on the freaking road!
their not harming any humans, hell feel free to kill your self, just do it at home, no need to arrest weed user, . god any smart poeple left on earth that support this madness make me sick. we need real justice, not justice for Show.
i for one, would demand death penalty for anyone robbing me with planned evil intent once they cross the line using a deadly weapon, to steal form you by force, their no going Back anymore , they need to be put down like a wild animal that attacked humans, no mercy, ruthless justice must be served
people don't seem to understand this point, bad guys, that get rewarded by getting away with your lifes ,that's left off easy, will just Keep on doing it,
, if not put down , Don't be shocked when such hell of future crimes like this story come back and bite the people who support such a piss poor justice system we have.
I know in Maryland I can claim annonymously. Not only that, I will claim it via a trust. I have seared in my wife's mind that we are not going to be telling anyone except family, and even then, we will only share that we have come into money, never divulge how much we have. Family will take your butt out also.
There have been too many Lottery winners murdered, shot, poisoned, stabbed, you name it. My houses will be fortified with state of the art security measures, Rottweilers, and a cache of weapons. Lol. No joke, Im serious. We do live in a country with the right to bare arms.
Illinois is run by Democrats. Democrats are afraid of guns and therefore they hate them and don't want anybody owning the scary things.
People have been thrown in jail in Illinois for defending themselves with guns inside their own homes.
They really don't care what the Constitution or the recent Supreme Court decision about guns says.
Tennessee and other states that live by the Constitution (very few democrats) have enacted the Castle Doctrine which makes it clear that you can shoot anybody on your property who threatens you or tries to steal anything. People have even used it's provisions to shoot people stealing from their neighbors property. It's a great law and real Americans love it.
Me personally, I'd let the dogs tear em up for awhile first before I blast the hell out of em.
Last thing they'd see is me lookin down at em.
Then I'd spit a wad of Beechnut in their eye and say: Send yer soul to heaven boy, cuz yo ass is mine.
"I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine
But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive"
Hey hearsetrax, good picture of Popcorn Sutton, best moonshiner in <snip>e County Tennessee for many years.
Killed himself rather than go to jail in 09.
You'd think the feds would have more important things to do.
Hey, good song too!
yeah it is and was a major shame ... and I agree with ya about the feds
I had a memorial for him complete with a video @ a fourm I presently run for a lady Friend up in Jersey
sadly the thread is MIA due to age .......
but just the same hes still a hero of mine and my extended family online
will see if I can find the video and send it via Pm
What fools these mortals be! I cannot believe people are that stupid: instead of waiting for their lottery ship to come in (this is -- if they play), they would rather steal from someone else.
I am glad the judge threw the book at them -- not necessarily for stealing, but for not using critical thinking skills and evaluating the situation before by saying to themselves:
1. The money does not belong to me.
2. What if I am caught. I lose my freedom, my sense of self-worth, and my family connections.
3. Thou shalt not steal (a lovely and provocative Biblical excuse not to steal).
4. Patience is a virtue; give it time: if it is meant to be; then, it is meant to be.
5. I am still young yet, I have plenty of time to hopefully win the lottery.
Finally, let those crooks be a fine American example to all who just cannot wait to win. Think about it, some players will win before they die; others, will never win, period.
I think Mr. English had more motivation, experience, and better aim ... all tough to go up against when you're startled at the wee hours of the day, I presume!
Andre said police later recorded Palella admitting he drove English and another person to the victim's house, pointed out the house and waited in the car for their return. Authorities say Palella was not aware he was being recorded at the time.
Rolling Meadows detective Phil Barrile interviewed English, who admitted he went to the house because Palella told him the victim, an Illinois State Lottery winner, had money there, Andre said. English also said he brought along a .25 caliber weapon and admitted firing it, Andre said.
The homeowner has recovered from his physical injuries, but he says his ability to trust other people remains impaired — especially since he once counted one of Palella's relatives among his best friends and has known the family for decades.
Tlhis is the crux of the whole story.
This man was not attacked because he was a lottery winner, he was attacked because of the greed of someone he knew and trusted.
The story does not say when or how much was won. Most crimes are committed by someone the victim knows.
If your house is broken into, more than likely it is by someone who has been in your house or they know someone that has been in your house.
Look at the couple that had adopted the special needs children and were murdered by people that had been in their home. Look at Abraham Shakespeare. One of the people involved in his death included someone he had known for about 15 years.
That is why it so important to keep your mouth shut and teach your kids to "shut up" also.
Not only will the friends and casual aquaintence do yu harm but your blood relatives will also. Just ask all of the senior citizens and disabled people that are being robbed blind and abused every day.. Mickey Rooney is a prime example of that.
If you do a Google search for Carmine Palella of Palatine, you can find an earlier story on the Daily Herald website. The victim won $100,000. That's it. 100k.
One problem with this story, and stories like it, is the media uses the generic phrase "lottery winner" as though it has a specific meaning, like you can use it as a descriptor and everyone knows what they're talking about. My first thought when I read the story was, "How many millions we talking about?" Turns out the man didn't have enough money to enact any of the plans you see in these comments, move to a gated community, for example. 100k after taxes (35% federal, 3% state of Illinois (raised this year to 5% Ouch!)) isn't enough to drastically change your life, unless you really have nothing when you win. For a working person, that amount of money might not even be enough to pay off their home.
The article doesn't say, but I imagine that quite a chunk of his money, if any was left, went to medical bills. Talk about compounding your tragedy.
This is just to try and address various comments made throuighout this thread.
The article didn't say Chicago but did say Cook County. As far as I know, residents of Chicago can't have handguns. Brilliant law, duh, so only the bad guys have guns. In the summer of 2008 there were more gun dearhs in Chicago than by U.S. service members in Iraq.
It's proven over and over that the cities with the strictiest gun laws have the highest murder rates.
Only two states do not allow concealed carry, Illinois and Wisconsin. Illinois is the only state that insists on a FOID card (Firearm Ownswers ID) to buy weapons and ammo.
Some statees have a forced-to-flee law. I think Massachusetts is one of them. In other words, if you come home and find someone in your house or somoen comes in you are forced to flee so you don't hurt them. What country are we in?
As far as the neighborhood where a lottery winner lives, there was a case close to here where someone had won the Illinois lotto for about $4 million and was getting death threats and people trying to barge in to "the millionaire's house, there's the millionaire's house."
As a sidenote, in the 1970s there was a crime wave in De Kalb County, Georgia. the sheriff said there weren't enough cops so got a law passed that county residents had to have a foirarm. Crime dropped 70% in weeks.
re: the OP, since this guy did indeed get shot, I wonder what would happen if he sued the state for not letting him remain anonymous. Just a thought.
If ever there was a case for remaining anonymous, this was it.
There are two kinds of jackpot winners...the ones who remained anonymous and the ones that wish they had.
I like to be the unknown, will the government allow you to do so?
comments please
Probably not, they want want their photo op! Mega Millions/Powerball want their promotion from a big win too. Some states allow anonymity but then some of those states won't allow it for multi-state games, which is just stupid. But again, they want the attention it brings to the lottery, they don't give two <snip>s about you.
yeah i kinda figured it was a cas eof living in wrong state, and man onlyu winning $100k. After taxes, there would be hardly enough to bother moving to a gun safe state. i mean a state where you are allowed ot protect your own house and property.
It's all a matter of perspective, savagegoose. My entire flock of chickens is gathered around one of the dead coons I dispatched protecting their and my home. They think they hit the jackpot on maggots and rotten meat. There are eight coon carcasses in varying stages of decay out there killed over the last week or so, but that's too many. The jackpot's too big to be of any use and I burned up .22 short hollowpoints costing $10 for a box of 200 [tickets]. But the extra seven of those coons wanted to be part of the jackpot, so I let them in anyway.
Like you, the hens wouldn't have been impressed with $100k and wouldn't have wanted to move somewhere without coons just because of it.