A Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Terrorizing Chicago’s Northwest Side with a Machete
Andre Gonzalez, the man who unleashed a reign of terror on Chicago’s Northwest Side by threatening people with a machete during a robbery spree, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. The sentence was handed down on Tuesday following his arrest in June 2022.
Chicago police reported that Gonzalez’s crime spree lasted nine days, starting on May 27. Although he was suspected of committing numerous robberies, he was formally charged with only a portion of those incidents.
The first charged robbery took place on June 3, 2022, in the 4000 block of West Eddy. Two women were confronted by Gonzalez, who brandished a machete and demanded their belongings. The following night, a similar incident occurred in the 3000 block of North Haussen Court.
On June 5, a 52-year-old man was accosted by Gonzalez while walking in the 3700 block of North Troy. The victim bravely fought back by throwing a pizza at the assailant, who eventually made off with the victim’s wallet and cash.
After pleading guilty to multiple counts of armed robbery, Gonzalez received a 14-year sentence from Judge Sophia Atcherson. Despite this, he has already accumulated nearly 2,000 days of credit in jail, which could lead to his release in less than two years with the standard sentence reduction.
This is not Gonzalez’s first brush with the law for violent robberies. In 2016, he was charged with a series of similar crimes in the same neighborhood, although no machete was involved at that time. Gonzalez had threatened victims with a gun and resorted to physical violence to obtain their valuables.
In 2018, he was sentenced to multiple concurrent terms totaling 6-1/2 years for each, with a 50% reduction for good behavior.
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