A Waukegan man was set to be deported back to Mexico, but a Lake County mom fought to keep him in Illinois so he could face trial for concealing her daughter’s death.
Jose Mendoza-Gonzalez is charged with hiding Megan Bos’s body in his backyard in a trash can with bleach for weeks while her family desperately searched for her.
On Thursday, a Lake County judge walked a fine line trying to navigate new laws.
“It was very scary, so my emotions were everywhere through that. I almost thought that they were going to let him go,” said Jennifer Bos, minutes after a judge gave her daughter’s case new hope.
Megan Bos, of Antioch, went missing around Feb. 19, and her body would be found badly decomposed in Mendoza-Gonzalez’s back yard in Waukegan nearly two months later.
Mendoza-Gonzalez was charged with concealment of a death, abuse of a corpse, and obstructing justice. He was initially released from custody, because the charges weren’t severe enough for pre-trial detainment under Illinois’ SAFE-T Act.
But when Jennifer caught the ear of President Donald Trump, Mendoza-Gonzalez was instead taken to federal custody.
Afterward, Illinois prosecutors said he told a judge he’d like to self-deport back to his native Mexico, meaning he’d leave before facing further prosecution in the Bos case – a move an immigration judge greenlit on Tuesday.
Prosecutors acted fast to get Mendoza-Gonzalez back in court in Lake County to be detained for trial.
“The problem with getting a new statute is all the decades and decades of prior case law that interpreted the old law is out the window; doesn’t count anymore,” CBS News Chicago legal analyst Irv Miller said.
Miller said there have long been tensions between state and federal law. In this case, much argument revolved around whether Mendoza-Gonzalez’s request for deportation could be construed as a “willful flight” and an attempt to evade prosecution.
Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes said Thursday that asking the immigration judge for deportation “is even more of a sure thing than buying a flight at O’Hare.”
Mendoza-Gonzalez was brought to court on Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but was handed back over to Lake County authorities. He is expected to remain in the Lake County Jail until trial, which is scheduled for January.
Jennifer Bos said she feels like the immigration aspect of this issue has taken time and attention from her daughter’s case; big legal questions that she feels like she has to fend off in her search for answers.