Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that the Third District Appellate Court of Illinois has affirmed the 101-year sentence of Justin Dalcollo for the abduction, sexual assault, and armed robbery of a female college student in March 2019. Dalcollo had petitioned for a new sentencing hearing, claiming that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing and improperly imposed consecutive sentences.

On March 22, 2019, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the victim, who was home from college on spring break, was getting into her car in the parking lot at Bloomingdale Court Mall when Dalcollo approached her and forced his way into her car at gunpoint. He then ordered her to drive to a bank in Glendale Heights and withdraw $300 from her debit card. Subsequently, he directed her to various locations in Hanover Park and Bartlett before parking in a garage at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin where he sexually assaulted her. Afterward, Dalcollo forced the victim to drive to a convenience store in Elgin and accompany him inside. He then ordered her to call a cab from her cell phone and drive him to the Elgin train station where he was picked up by the cab. The victim went to a hospital afterward and reported the assault. An investigation led to Dalcollo's arrest the following day in Chicago.

On December 13, 2021, after a five-day trial, a jury found Dalcollo guilty of six counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault (Class X Felony), one count of Armed Robbery (Class X Felony), one count of Aggravated Kidnapping (Class X Felony), and two counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon (Class 2 Felony). On May 2, 2022, Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh sentenced Dalcollo to two consecutive sentences of forty years imprisonment for two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault charges and an additional consecutive twenty-one-year sentence for aggravated kidnapping. The sentences on other charges ran concurrently, resulting in an aggregate sentence of 101 years.

At his sentencing hearing, the Court noted Dalcollo’s extensive criminal history with “back-to-back convictions for domestic battery” and his status on parole for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor out of Ohio when he removed his ankle monitor before committing this offense. The court emphasized that such a significant sentence was necessary to reassure the public that “the defendant cannot commit incomprehensible criminal acts on any other citizen,” concluding that Dalcollo’s actions have “forfeited him from ever reentering society.”

The Appellate Court disagreed with Dalcollo’s assertions that the trial court abused its discretion at sentencing or failed to consider potential rehabilitation. It noted that while mitigating factors such as Dalcollo’s “difficult childhood as a victim of abuse and mental illness” were considered by the Trial Court, they did not significantly lessen the seriousness of his offenses or justify a lesser sentence. The Trial Court also highlighted his violent criminal history and defiant behavior while in custody as evidence against his potential for rehabilitation.

“I thank the Appellate Court for their thorough analysis...and their finding that a one-hundred-one-year sentence is not only appropriate but warranted,” Berlin stated. He acknowledged Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser's collaboration on this case and commended DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorneys Jim Scaliatine and Jaclyn McAndrew along with Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Lori Schmidt for their efforts ensuring Mr. Dalcollo will never again terrorize an innocent woman.

Justice Peterson delivered the judgment with Presiding Justice McDade and Justice Holdridge concurring.