SYCAMORE – A trial date was set Monday morning for a Sycamore man accused of stabbing a man five times during a fight behind a bar in February 2017.
Anthony J. Sosin, 33, of the 1500 block of Willow Street in Sycamore, has been free on $1,000 bail since early 2017, shortly after he was arrested on a warrant for aggravated battery. If convicted, he could face two to five years in prison. He is represented by lawyer Robert Nolan, and while Assistant State’s Attorney Alicia Caplan is prosecuting the case, fellow Assistant State’s Attorney Maribeth Ennis represented the state Monday morning.
A trial date was set for Aug. 8, with a final jury setting of Aug. 2. The case is due back in court July 9 for pretrial motions.
Police reports acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request show that during a birthday party the night of Feb. 3, 2017, and the morning of Feb. 4 at a bar in the 200 block of East Lincoln Highway, witnesses said men exchanged racial slurs with Jo-An Galindo, 38, of the 400 block of Lucerne Avenue in DeKalb, and were kicked out of the bar before eventually fighting in the court behind the bar.
The reports said Galindo had to be transferred from Kishwaukee Hospital to the intensive care unit at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford because of the severity of about five knife wounds, according to the report.
Sosin, whose hand was bandaged when police spoke with him, according to the reports, eventually admitted to wielding a small folding knife, and said he was swinging it during the fight because his shirt had been pulled over his head.
The reports said all the men fled the scene before police arrived, and that after a warrant was issued Feb. 21, 2017, for Sosin’s arrest, he turned himself in Feb. 22 and posted $1,000 bail.
During an April 26, 2018, hearing, Judge Philip Montgomery said he’d expected the state to have an offer in place for Sosin, but Ennis asked for more time. Caplan said Monday morning that no formal offer has been made.
Sosin has no previous criminal convictions. Court records show Galindo has been convicted of multiple misdemeanors in the past 15 years, and was convicted May 11 of a felony criminal trespass to property stemming from a January 2015 incident and sentenced to two years in the Swift, Certain and Fair probation program.