Politics & Government

Quinn Pardons Six Convicted in DuPage

The governor signed 87 orders of pardon and expungement on Friday, freeing and/or granting clemency to six persons convicted in DuPage courts.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn handled 222 clemency petitions on Friday that go back to 2005, granting 87 and denying 135, in the process clearing six persons convicted in DuPage courts as long ago as 1988.

According to the Peoria Journal-Star, Quinn’s office says he is committed to working through a backlog of over 2,500 cases accumulated during the tenure of the now-jailed ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich; he has granted 929 and denied 1,530 since taking office, his staff told the paper. 

The pardons for convictions in DuPage County went to:

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  • Sandra M. Brooks, convicted of burglary in DuPage County in 1988. Petition in the docket since Oct. 2008. Granted pardon and expungement. (Also pardoned for conviction of retail theft in Winnebago County in 2001.)
  • Gianna Chicco, convicted of retail theft in DuPage County in 1991. Petition in the docket since Oct. 2007. Granted pardon and expungement.
  • Reaelma Gipson, convicted of retail theft in DuPage County in 1990. Petition in the docket since Oct. 2005. Granted pardon and expungement.
  • Miroslaw Laguna, convicted of aggravated fleeing police in DuPage County in 2000. Petition in the docket since July 2005. Granted pardon and expungement. (Also pardoned for conviction of possession of a stolen motor vehicle in Cook County in 2000.)
  • Tanya Porter, convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia in DuPage County in 1998. Petition in the docket since July 2008. Granted pardon and expungement. (Also pardoned for possession of a controlled substance [two counts] in Kane County in 1997.)
  • Octavio Zavala, convicted of battery in DuPage County in 1999. Petition in the docket since Jan. 2010. Granted pardon and expungement.

One of the most significant pardons, the Journal-Star reported, was of Peggy Jo Jackson, 57, who was convicted of murdering her husband in 1986 despite attorneys saying that she suffered horrible domestic abuse from the man and that the killing was done by her brother, not her.

Jackson’s sentence was commuted to time served and she will be allowed to serve parole out of state, the paper said.

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