Cops Call on Judge's Druggie Kid 9 Days After Release

By Joseph Hosey

The son of former Will County Chief Judge Rodney Lechwar only had to serve seven months of an eight-year prison sentence. But just nine days after he got out the cops reportedly came calling and found some incriminating things.

Channahon police officers spotted syringes and small plastic bags in Lechwar's Navajo Drive home after investigating a report that his ex-con kid, Matthew Lechwar, had overdosed, said Police Chief Jeff Wold.

Matthew Lechwar "woke up" and was able to walk around on his own after the officers arrived about 11:30 a.m. Friday, Wold said, adding that the department has alerted special prosecutor Dave Neal to the syringes and baggies they found in the house.

Matthew Lechwar, 30, got out of prison June 5. Court papers said he was to reside with his former judge father after his release.

Matthew Lechwar had pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. Narcotics agents caught him in April 2012 with between 15 and 100 grams of packaged heroin, according to a criminal complaint.

That amount of heroin was enough to put Lechwar—who had already served prison time on a drug conviction—behind bars for as long as 30 years. But at the last minute, special prosecutor Charles Colburn, who was appointed to the case due to Rodney Lechwar's position as a former judge, reduced the charge.

Colburn then asked Will County Judge Edward Burmila to recommend Matthew Lechwar to a special prison boot camp program that would allow him to walk free in a matter of months.

Burmila went along with Colburn's request. He sentenced Matthew Lechwar to eight years in prison, but the special program got him out in less than seven months.

But Matthew Lechwar is still on parole. Neal, who works out of the same state office as Colburn, failed to return calls for comment on whether he would seek to revoke Matthew Lechwar's parole based on the referral from the Channahon Police Department.

Besides the two drug cases that put him in prison, Matthew Lechwar was charged in 2006 with the unlawful delivery of heroin. He got that case dropped by successfully completing a special drug court program.

Matthew Lechwar also has a 2000 possession of cannabis conviction out of Kendall County, a 2003 driving under the influence conviction in Will County, and a 2004 possession of a controlled substance conviction from Grundy County, Colburn said during a court hearing.

Before he served his seven months in prison, Matthew Lechwar was in custody for seven and a half months in the Will County jail.

Rodney Lechwar was a judge from 1985 until 2010 and held the position of chief judge in Will County from 1997 to 2003. For 10 years prior to becoming a judge, Rodney Lechwar was a Will County prosecutor.

Rodney Lechwar is now a mediator with ADR Systems, "the Chicago area’s largest alternative dispute resolution service." Messages left for him with ADR Systems were not returned.

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