People v. Berke

Defendant, Richard Berke, was indicted on 184 counts of felony theft from the City of Chicago (City) from 1980 to 1985, totalling approximately $100,000, under two criminal statutes: theft by deception (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 16 — 1(a)(2)) and theft by unauthorized control (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 16 — 1(a)(1)). Following a bench trial, defendant was acquitted of all the counts of theft by deception, but was convicted of 76 counts of theft by unauthorized control. He was sentenced to 30 months’ probation with the condition that he perform eight hours of community…