Prosecutors requested that a Cook County judge detain Jacob Sickel as a threat to public safety after he was charged with three armed robberies. Instead, the judge placed him on an ankle monitor. Two years later, Sickel pleaded guilty, and due to time credited while on the monitor, he has about 10 months remaining to serve in prison.
Sickel, 22, from Brookfield, received a six-year prison sentence for each of the three armed robbery counts, which are to be served at the same time. By the time of his court appearance, he had already accrued 788 days of sentence credit from wearing the monitor. With the state’s standard 50 percent sentence reduction applied to his term, approximately 308 days remain.
The armed robberies took place on a Monday morning in February 2024. Prosecutors stated that Sickel and an unidentified accomplice spent two hours targeting individuals alone in parked cars on the South Side. One suspect wore a black mask and the other a white mask.
The incidents began around 5 a.m. when the pair allegedly held a gun to a woman in the 6300 block of South Mozart, demanding her valuables. Shortly thereafter, they robbed a man in the 6900 block of South Pulaski. By 7 a.m., they had taken an iPad from someone in the 3000 block of East 88th Street.
Approximately 20 minutes following the final robbery, Chicago police identified a stolen Kia linked to the crimes. The vehicle crashed in the 5500 block of South Wells Street while attempting to evade a traffic stop, leading to both suspects fleeing on foot. The driver, who prosecutors claim also wielded the gun during the robberies, managed to escape, but Sickel was apprehended.
Officers reported that Sickel was in possession of items belonging to the second victim when he was captured. His arrest report identified him as a member of the 12th Street Players street gang in Berwyn.
During a detention hearing, prosecutors presented these allegations to Judge Kelly McCarthy, requesting that Sickel remain in custody as a public safety threat. However, she opted to release him on an ankle monitor.
The Illinois SAFE-T Act grants defendants on pretrial monitoring day-for-day sentence credit, regardless of whether they are confined at home or allowed two days per week of “essential movement.” All 788 days Sickel spent on the monitor were counted towards the prison sentence he received from Judge Peggy Chiampas.
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