Attorney says record of Fettes’ charges could be expunged
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Tyson Fettes, a former Racine County public official, had charges of patronizing prostitutes and soliciting sex acts dismissed in an Illinois courtroom recently.
“It was dismissed because there wasn’t sufficient evidence,” said Fettes’ attorney, Elder Granger II.
Prosecutors dropped the charges during March 4 status conference, according to online records from Winnebago County 17th Judicial Circuit Court, less than a month before Fettes was scheduled to stand trial.
Granger, meanwhile, has petitioned to have Fettes’ charges expunged from the record during a May 12 hearing in Rockford.
“The next step is to get it out of the system, like it never happened,” said Granger, who seemed confident the record of charges would be eliminated.
Wrong place, wrong time
Fettes, who served as supervisor of the Burlington Town Board at the time until he eventually resigned, was one of 27 men charged in an alleged illegal sex trade operation at two Rockford lingerie shops in August 2019.
Fettes faced four counts of patronizing a prostitute along with two Class A misdemeanor charges of solicitation of a sex act at the stores, Chantilly Lace, 106 Seventh St., and Exclusive Lingerie and Boutique, 77 Seventh St., Rockford.
The Winnebago State’s Attorney’s Office, which received information about alleged illegal sex trade activities, executed search warrants May 23, 2019 at both establishments.
“Multiple items were seized and several adult female employees were detained for questioning,” the State’s Attorney’s Office said, adding the city shut down both businesses because of code violations.
Fettes, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to his charges.
“I am entering my plea of not guilty to the charges against me. I ask that the public withhold judgment until the case is processed through the judicial system,” Fettes told the Standard Press in August 2019.
According to the bills of indictment, or complaints, investigators alleged Fettes paid two different people on two different occasions between December 2018-May 2019 for sex.
The bills of indictments, as requested by the Standard Press, carried very little detail of what transpired at both lingerie stores.
The complaints, unlike documents filed in Wisconsin criminal cases, contained vague or incomplete information other than a few short sentences.
Granger requested evidence ranging from police reports to camera footage at both establishments and planned to contest the charges in Winnebago County.
“The charges are based on vehicles that were parked near the establishments,” Granger said in September 2019.
Eventually, according to Granger, prosecutors agreed the charges lacked evidence and were largely circumstantial.
Additionally, on Tuesday, Granger said investigators looked to sweep anyone, and everyone, who visited both establishments, into the probe.
Fettes, in essence, was simply at the wrong place, at the wrong time, he contends.
“Anyone that was in the area of an establishment, or two establishments, they photographed license plates,” Granger said. “It was unfortunate the way they did it.”
Fettes, however, wasn’t the only prominent official implicated. The indictments included a former CEO, a bank president, youth soccer coach, doctors and other business leaders.
More than a handful of others implicated, at least according to published reports, also had their charges dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
The purported ringleader, Peggy D. Smith, owner of Chantilly Lace, faces 12 counts of promoting a place of prostitution and has continually fought the charges in Winnebago County.
To read the entire story see the April 29 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
-
-
-
-
-