Jose D. Jara Jr.

News Reporting and Writing 151

Room 606 / Tue-Thurs
11:00 AM 12:20 PM
On April 27th a Cook County Grand Jury indicted a 22-year-old man on multiple criminal
charges which included armed violence, illegal possession of a firearm, and intent to
manufacture and deliver marijuana.
Robert A. Silvestre III was arrested this past January originally for being the target of a
sting operation spearheaded by the Chicago Police drug task force where confidential informants
named him as the middleman for supplying neighborhood drug dealers in Chicagos southeast
side.
According to the Cook County Felony Review Unit Silvestre was in possession of 1,300
grams of marijuana (which has a street value of $8,000.), a 9mm handgun, and two boxes of
bullets. If Silvestre is found guilty and convicted on all counts he could find himself in prison for
an excess of 15 years.
Silvestre has been released on $20,000 cash bail since his January arrest while he awaits
his trial. However Cook County Officials have also been looking into his family since the
basement apartment where the drugs were seized was owned an occupied by his mother and step
father who are Cook County Sheriffs Deputies.
According to the Cook County Sheriffs Department media relations division Silvestres
family has been under investigation for some time now. Yet when the Cook County Sheriffs
merit board was contacted they declined to comment because the matter involving Silvestres
mother was still under investigation.
Silvestre is due in Cook County Criminal Court in June to answer the charges with his
attorney Stuart Goldberg.
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Jose D. Jara Jr.

News Reporting and Writing 151
Room 606 / Tue-Thurs
11:00 AM 12:20 PM
A Chicago man is finding himself in hot water again after the City of Chicago Building
Department continues its sweep of slumlords within the city limits.
Victor Rivera of Chicagos south side Hegewisch neighborhood is the owner of a single
family home located on the 13400 block of South Baltimore Avenue where the city alleges that
Rivera has been illegally treating his single family home as a multi-residential building within
the city limits.
The Chicago Building Department filed a housing complaint with the Circuit Court of
Cook County seeking an injunction to bar Rivera from using the premises any further until the
building is brought up to code.
According to court filings the city alleges that the premises has an old roof that is ready
to cave in, old wiring that is now exposed (which puts the dwelling at risk of an electrical fire),
and structural issues with the porch.
Rivera has been in and out of court and said the city is just hard up for money. The city
has argued they have photographic evidence that the property is not in accordance with building
code regulations and that Rivera has made empty promises in open court to stall the proceedings.
Circuit Court Judge Linda J. Pauel threatened Rivera and his wife with contempt this past
April telling them Get it together within 30 days or bring your toothbrushes the next time
around in a status hearing that was held.

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Jose D. Jara Jr.

News Reporting and Writing 151
Room 606 / Tue-Thurs
11:00 AM 12:20 PM
Cook County Circuit Judge Pamela E. Loza reprimanded a Hickory Hills attorney for
filing false accusations and wasting the courts resources sources say.
Attorney Michael T. Tristano of Tristano & Tristano was representing single father Mark
Aguilar in a heated custody dispute against Kerinda Knee, a Canadian resident. During the
course of the litigation involving the parties daughter, Tristano moved to disqualify the court
appointed psychologist on November 22, 2013. He cited an alleged violation of ethics and
conduct on the doctors part from what he called morally corrupt, due to the doctor allegedly
frequenting Flirty Girl Fitness in Chicagos north side, which is owned by Knee.
On January 28th, 2015 Judge Loza held a hearing on the allegations filed by Tristano
where at the close of the hearing Loza declared that the allegations were totally baseless and in
violation of the rules of the court.
Judge Loza reprimanded Tristano for failing to verify his fact pattern, and for wasting the
courts resources, time, and for making the Domestic Relations Division of the Cook County
Circuit Court look bad. Per her written ruling, she ordered Tristano and his client Mark Aguilar
to pay the attorneys fees of both Knee and that of the court appointed psychologist.
Tristano charged that Judge Lozas rationale for her ruling was over the top and that
she abused her discretion, which is why he filed an emergency appeal with the Illinois reviewing
court.
The matter is still pending appellate review.

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Jose D. Jara Jr.

News Reporting and Writing 151
Room 606 / Tue-Thurs
11:00 AM 12:20 PM
Madeline Voudigaris a 35 year old mother of two children residing in the Chicagos north
side tells her story about how her abusive landlord literally changed her entire world around in a
series of courtroom battles.
Like many Madeline does what she can to survive in the citys costly environment
dealing with food, clothing, and shelter. But when she became a victim of fraud by her landlord
Osama Haddad her entire life was turned upside-down and now teaches individuals how to avoid
people going through the same ordeal.
October of 2012 Madeline was forced to flee her north side apartment with her two small
children after her 4 year old daughter almost fell through a rotten stair step.
Madeline attempted to remedy the issue of the rotten stair step with Haddad but he
refused to return her phone calls and started sending his family to collect the rent. After multiple
calls she went to her local city services facility where they told her there was nothing they could
do without a lease which was Madelines predicament. In light of the current circumstances at
the time she left to go reside with her mother in Hammond, Indiana in December that year.
Madeline thought the issues with her former landlord were over with until Christmas Eve
when she received a summons from her local sheriffs department. Per the summons she
received her landlord was suing her for unpaid rent because she had left her north side apartment
without giving him ample notice. Madeline disagreed and was having to prepare herself court in
January 2013 where her side of the story would be heard.

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Madeline and her former landlord Haddad appeared in court to deal with the allegations
of the unpaid rent on January 9th, 2013 at the Daley Center in downtown Chicago. Her landlord
claimed that he was entitled to $2000 in unpaid rent plus damages to the apartment she rented
from Haddad. She presented her case regarding issues that ranged from rotten wooden steps
which almost injured her daughter to leaking pipes that ruined her personal belongings when one
of them broke.
Ultimately the judge ended up ruling in Madelines favor and she didnt owe any money
to Haddad at the end of the day.
However Madelines wanted to take her concerns to another level and educate others like
herself to prevent what happened to her happening to others. She contacted her pastor at the First
Baptist Church of Hammond where she was able to start a watchdog group centered around
encouraging prospective tenants to do background checks on landlords to protect those from
potentially being victimized.
Madeline currently conducts one meeting per month at her local church and accepts
personal request in her own free time when people need help dealing with their landlord on
multiple issues. Her main goal is to ensure that public safety is maintained when a tenant enters
into a lease with their landlord, lease enforcement, and if necessary assistance with intervention
in the courts.

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