Most of those cases involved the delivery and sale of controlled substances such as cocaine. However, a lengthy prison term was secured for one of the first crack cocaine cases in the county, in which the defendant sold crack to an undercover officer within a short distance of an elementary school. In addition to filing a record number of drug cases, Floski s office has cleared a record number of felonies 235-helping to deal with the case backlog. If you re a victim, a year might seem like a long time to wait for justice. But in the court system, that s actually lightning quick.
Civil cases can drag on for years.
Of the 235 felonies, just five verdicts of not-guilty were returned two by juries and three by judges. The report also shows that plea bargaining continues to remain low in Ogle County. In the last year, just six plea bargains involved reducing a felony to a misdemeanor. And, I can only think of a couple cases in eight years in which we ve reduced a charge of violence. I am confident that we ll hold that record when the state finishes calculating numbers for 2000.