Jan. 30--A suburban police sergeant who had pleaded guilty to resisting arrest was allowed to take back the plea Friday after saying he didn't know it could result in him losing his job.
The lawyer for former Mount Prospect police sergeant Anthony Lietzow said he was given "bad advice" by a previous attorney when he pleaded guilty in McHenry County court.
Lietzow, who had worked as police officer for 20 years, admitted his guilt to the misdemeanor charge stemming from a July domestic disturbance at his Huntley home, where police said he attempted to harm a family member and then resisted when local police tried to handcuff him.
In exchange for the plea in October, the state dropped felony charges against Lietzow of aggravated battery of a peace officer and aggravated domestic battery, as well as a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.
With the guilty plea vacated, Lietzow will have to stand trial on all the original charges.
He had been given a sentence of one year of conditional discharge, was ordered to undergo treatment for alcohol use and was fined about $2,300.
But Lietzow's attorney, Phil Prossnitz, said the officer's former lawyer did not tell Lietzow the conviction could result in his firing. Had he known that, he would have chosen "to roll the dice" and go to trial, Prossnitz said.
"He maintains his innocence," the lawyer said at a earlier hearing on the request. "But he would have rather gone to trial ... than enter a plea that would kill his career."
Assistant State's Attorney Michael Combs argued against allowing Lietzow to vacate his plea, saying the "loss of (Lietzow's) career is a collateral" result of his plea and the judge has no control over it. Nor does the situation "raise to the level of ineffective counsel," Combs said.
The officer "could have lost his job no matter what," Combs said.
Combs said there are likely many defendants who have lost jobs and careers after pleading guilty to a criminal offense.
He said granting this motion to vacate the guilty plea could potentially "open the floodgates to every defendant who lost their job due to a guilty plea."
Mount Prospect Police Chief Tim Janowick said Lietzow remains on unpaid leave and cannot work as a police officer because the state decertified him and revoked his Firearm Owner's ID card after the guilty plea.
The chief said the local fire and police commission was to begin the process of determining the fate of Lietzow's job in December but that was put on hold when the officer filed paperwork to vacate the plea.
Janowick said the department is "reviewing the options that are available to us," and that it might depend on the outcome of the officer's trial.
The chief said Lietzow "did a lot of good work in the years he's been with the department" and has been named officer of the year.
"Unfortunately ... he's got things that need to be worked through personally and professionally," Janowick said.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
