Convicted Rapist Claims Prosecutors Ruined His Reputation
JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) - A southwest suburban man serving a 90-year prison sentence for a brutal rape, who's also been arrested for other violent crimes and served time for kidnapping, says prosecutors are ruining his "good name."
Russell Amos Jr. of Joliet, 46, filed a lawsuit against Matthew Guzman and Christine Vukmir late last week. The pair of Will County assistant state's attorneys secured Amos' 90-year prison sentence last month from Judge Carla Alessio-Policandriotes.
Amos was accused of choking, beating and sexually assaulting a woman in April 2009, and a jury convicted him of home invasion and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. Prosecutors said Amos also sexually assaulted the woman with a souvenir bat, but he wasn't convicted for that act.
Amos says Guzman and Vukmir conspired to land an unlawful conviction by violating his attorney/client privilege and coaching his alleged victim, invaded his privacy, and inflicted emotional distress. He also accuses them of defamation of character.
Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow's office says Amos was convicted in 1988 and served 10 years for kidnapping a woman in Georgia, and he was arrested in 1985 for holding a knife to a woman's throat in Will County.
Glasgow's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Amos, who also appeared in court Tuesday in yet another case for allegedly punching a man in the face, is seeking $3.5 million.
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