2019 IL App (1st) 170644 FIRST DISTRICT SIXTH DIVISION April 26, 2019 No. 1-17-0644 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County. ) v. ) No. 16 CR 04381 ) MICHAEL FORT, ) Honorable ) James Karahalios, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding. JUSTICE HARRIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justice Cunningham concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Connors concurred in part and dissented in part, with opinion. OPINION ¶1 Defendant, Michael Fort, appeals his conviction, after a bench trial, of Class 1 attempted identity theft and his sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contends that his conviction should be reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial, where (1) the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly used the personal identification of another person when he filled out an application to lease a Mercedes-Benz, (2) the evidence did not support a finding that defendant attempted to obtain control of property valued over $100,000, and (3) the State failed to prove that defendant intended to defraud the car dealership beyond a reasonable doubt. For the foregoing reasons, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. No. 1-17-0644 ¶2 I. JURISDICTION ¶3 The trial court sentenced defendant on February 2, 2017. Defendant filed a notice of appeal on March 2, 2017. Accordingly, this court has jurisdiction pursuant to article VI, section 6, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 6) and Illinois Supreme Court Rules 603 (eff. Feb. 6, 2013) and 606 (eff. Dec. 11, 2014), governing appeals from a final judgment of conviction in a criminal case entered below. ¶4 II. BACKGROUND ¶5 Defendant was charged by indictment with one count of Class 1 attempted identity theft, one count of Class 3 identity theft, and two counts of forgery, in connection with his attempt to use a social security number ending in 2282 to lease a Mercedes-Benz S550 on February 13, 2016. ¶6 At defendant’s bench trial, Kelly Rodriguez testified that she is the finance manager at a Mercedes-Benz dealership located on 1000 West Golf Road in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. On February 13, 2016, Rodriguez met with defendant regarding his lease application. Prior to meeting with him, Rodriguez had received documents from sales manager Ron Genot, including an “e-pencil” which she described as “an agreement upon terms.” The e-pencil showed “an agreement upon the length of the lease, the miles per year of the lease, the down payment, the monthly payment, and then the final out the door price of the lease.” Rodriguez testified that the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of the specific Mercedes defendant attempted to lease was “approximately $120,000. $119,705.00 to be exact.” ¶7 Rodriguez also received defendant’s credit application, in which he provided his name, social security number, date of birth, address, phone number, and employment and income information. Defendant’s application listed a social security number ending in 2282, listed Aeon -2- No. 1-17-0644 Management ...
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