SPRINGFIELD – State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) urges Illinoisans to speak out against “left-wing policies that allow violent criminals to roam free.”
“Violent criminals (are) being released left and right...with no oversight, limited transparency, and almost zero media coverage,” Plummer said in protest over decisions of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
“We can't fight this battle alone. Be informed and start making phone calls. It's your family and your community that are at risk because too many Springfield legislators do what they're told instead of what is right for their constituents.”
Records kept at the board's website indicate that 15 offenders were released through July, though the board hasn't yet posted notes of October decisions in which double child killer Paula Sims was granted release.
At least one released early has been locked back up again: Raymond Larson, who skipped out of a halfway house two weeks after his release in April.
Larson was imprisoned for shooting high school sophomore Francis Casolari 23 times in 1972. Casolari, fishing in a park pond, had asked him to turn down his radio.
State corrections found Larson in four days and returned him to the halfway house.
He skipped out again and rode a Greyhound bus to Cincinnati. He returned and Chicago police caught him on the 30th day of his freedom.
The Prisoner Review Board convened a panel and revoked his parole in June.
Minutes of the board’s April meeting state that Larson earned degrees and was “deeply committed to his Buddhist faith, meditation, and nonviolence.”
Board members found he had hepatitis, hypertension, and kidney disease, and he required a catheter to urinate. The board also found his father collected debts for the Mafia.
Earlier this month, Plummer and fellow Republican Senators Terri Bryant of Murphysboro and Steve McClure of Jacksonville issued a protest statement on the board’s actions.
They stated that 10 of 14 board members serve without Senate confirmation.
“It’s the gravity of these crimes and the heavy responsibility that these board members hold that make it vital and imperative that they go through the constitutionally required vetting process and come before the Illinois Senate for confirmation,” the statement reads.
They stated that Gov. JB Pritzker’s allies in the legislature are complicit in allowing him to avoid transparency and oversight.
According to a report of their caucus, Pritzker appointed four members in March and April 2019.
As a constitutional limit of 60 session days for confirmation approached this March, Pritzker withdrew the appointments and appointed all four again.
He appointed six members this year, and the Senate hasn’t confirmed them.
According to the caucus, the terms of the 10 members who lack confirmation add up to 13 years.
One of the members picked by Pritzker, Max Cerda, committed two murders in 1979, at age 16.
Other early releases
In February the board granted it to Joseph Hurst, who killed Chicago police officer Herman Stallworth and wounded officer Eugene Ervin in 1967.
Hurst told the board, “I don’t deny I was a very destructive individual at the time.”
He said he could only explain that he lived outside God’s grace at the time.
The board found he suffered a stroke in 2008.
Chicago police union president John Catanzara told the board they crush the hearts of police every time a police killer is paroled.
Eight members voted for Hurst and four against.
They granted parole to Salik Abdullah, who as Theodore Parsons murdered teenagers Mark Harris and Douglas Simmons so he could steal their car in 1977.
Jurors couldn’t agree on a death penalty, so a judge sentenced Parsons for 500 to 1,000 years.
The judge said that if the board considered his release, “Anyone who reads the record of this trial, perhaps, would be moved to say not now, not ever.”
The board found Parsons became a Muslim and led services at Pinckneyville.
They found he’s legally blind and had both shoulders replaced.
Nine members voted for Abdullah and three against.
They granted parole to Johnny Veal, who jurors convicted of murdering Chicago policemen James Severin and Anthony Rizzato in 1970.
The officers volunteered for a “walk and talk” outreach program in Cabrini Green.
Jurors found Veal and defendant George Knights guilty in 1972, and Veal has asserted his innocence ever since.
According to minutes, the board interviewed him and he tried to litigate the case, “which is not the purpose or duty of this board.”
The minutes stated, “However, he did manage to again raise several questions and issues with this case.”
Eight members voted for Veal and four against.
The board granted parole to Larry Kurena, who fatally stabbed John Taylor and Emil Lauridsen in an alley behind a Cook County tavern in 1976.
According to minutes, “He stated they never should have lost their lives because of his stupidity and drinking.”
Board members found he learned welding and bookkeeping, and completed courses in anger management, domestic violence, and substance use disorder.
They found that psychiatric evaluation last year indicated no diagnosable issues and noted a positive attitude and good personal relations in prison.
Eight members voted for Kurena and four against.
They granted parole to Earl Allen, who fatally shot Geraldine Hubbard for calling police after he slapped her brother in 1978.
Geraldine lived long enough to tell witnesses and police that Allen did it.
A judge sentenced him for 100 to 300 years.
The board found that at Dixon, Allen recognized his disorder, began treatment, and changed his behavior.
They found he’s pursuing higher education in religious studies.
Twelve members voted for Allen.
They granted parole to Dennis Carter, who served sentences for armed robbery and rape and took $1,800 worth of jewelry at gunpoint.
He shot at the jeweler who shot back, and both missed.
As a habitual offender, he received a life sentence without parole.
The board found the Statesville warden approved special clearance for him to work inside the grounds as a tractor operator.
Eleven members voted for Carter and one against.
In March they granted parole to Jerry Dunigan, who pistol whipped Leo Silverstein and raped his wife Agnes in their Michigan Avenue apartment in 1970.
Agnes tried to run and he shot her in the ear.
Leo locked himself in a bedroom, broke a window and called for help.
Dunigan remained at large until 1976, when he overstayed a visa under a Canadian passport in Copenhagen.
He told the board he has no memory of the incident.
The board found renal failure caused him to wear a catheter and he was recovering from the coronavirus.
They found he’d have two psychologists in his transition.
Nine members voted for Dunigan and one against.
In a case from Madison County, the board granted parole to Joseph Cunningham.
He and a friend of his brother killed Emma McKinley, age 75, in 1977.
As his former babysitter she often paid him for work or gave him cash, but on that occasion she said no.
Minutes stated, “He has a goal to work on automobiles.”
Seven members voted for Cunningham and three against.
They granted parole to Ora Riley, who took $20 and cigarettes while holding a knife to the neck of newspaper seller Lester Sanders in Chicago in 1994.
His sister Christine Riley of Rockford told the board he could live with her and there are many jobs available in Rockford.
Minutes stated, “He has worked diligently over the years to develop his social intelligence, self control, and conscientiousness about those around him.”
Nine members voted for Riley and one against.
They granted parole to James Garland, who committed his last armed robbery at Wendy’s on South Archer in Chicago in 1987.
He had been convicted twice before.
The board found he worked as a law clerk and a tailor who designed clothes.
They found he had peptic ulcers, chronic neck and back pain, and a cantaloupe sized mass in a shoulder.
Ten members voted for Garland.
They granted parole to Michael Long, who committed burglary, and armed robbery from 1977 to 1980.
In the final crime he wore a mask and demanded money at a gas station on South Kedzie while an accomplice wearing nylon on his face held a gun.
The board found he gained skills as carpenter, tailor, clerk and laundry specialist.
They found drug addictions fueled his crimes, and he never hurt anyone.
Nine members voted for Long and one against.
In April they granted parole to Larson and to Anthony Sears, who took $500 from a Shell station in Summit with a gun in 1997.
His record showed five felonies and many misdemeanors since 1977.
The board found he never hurt anyone and is remorseful.
They found an interstate compact was approved so he could live with wife and family in Arizona.
They found he had spinal disease, high blood pressure, nerve pain, enlarged prostate, high cholesterol and a renal cyst.
Eleven members voted for Sears and one against.
In July they granted parole to Zelma King, who shot Thomas Higgins and Viola Kendall through their heads in 1967.
He disappeared and lived under an alias in Arizona when police arrested him ten months later.
The board found 18 individuals in custody sent letters of support, indicating he mentors them to take classes, be productive, and not violate rules.
They found he would live with brother Earl Bracey, associate vice president at Western Illinois University.
Eight members voted for King and four against.
They granted parole to Anthony Jones, who fatally stabbed Miroslaw Lominicki at a Chicago motel where Lominicki worked.
A judge found Jones guilty of attempted armed robbery and murder first degree, and sentenced him for life due to the brutal and heinous nature of the crime.
The board found he had asthma, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
They found he worked in the law library five days a week for 16 years, in a role requiring particular skill, patience, and trustworthiness.
Eight members voted for Jones and four against.
In October the board granted parole to Sims and David Denson.
Sims confessed to a charge that she killed her infant daughter in Madison County and admitted she previously killed another infant daughter in Jersey County.
The board hasn’t posted minutes of the October decisions.