Northlake Man's Armed Robbery Conviction Affirmed, Sentenced To Life In Prison: DuPage County

NORTHLAKE, IL — A 46-year-old man formerly from Northlake had an armed robbery with a firearm conviction affirmed by the Appellate Court. According to a release from DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, Luis Moreta was found guilty of armed robbery with a firearm in December 2014, and in March 2015, he was sentenced as a habitual criminal to a term of natural life in prison.

According to the release, Moreta stole $3,700 from a man he met on Craigslist in 2011. On Dec. 2, 2011, the victim drove to meet Moreta in the parking lot an Addison apartment complex to purchase a motorcycle Moreta had advertised on Craigslist. After meeting one of Moreta’s accomplices, the victim and two friends of his were escorted to the back of the parking lot where Moreta and another man, both with their faces covered and wearing hooded sweatshirts, jumped out of a van and held guns to the heads of the victims. Moreta and his accomplices then robbed the victim of the $3,700 he had brought to purchase the motorcycle and fled the scene.

In his appeal, Moreta argued that the trial court improperly allowed a police officer to testify about cellular technology and that the state argued improperly during closing arguments, according to the release.

In its affirmation, the Appellate Court found that the officer “did not testify about ‘cellular technology’ … nor did he ‘interpret’ cellular phone records. He merely plotted the information from cellular records onto several maps.”

According to the release, in rejecting Moreta’s claims concerning the State’s closing arguments, the Appellate Court found that, “Our review of the complained-of arguments does not reveal clear and obvious errors of any sort, let alone such seriousness that they affected the fairness of the defendant’s trial and challenged the integrity of the judicial process.” Justice McLaren delivered the judgment of the Court with Justices Hutchinson and Jorgensen concurring. “I would like to thank the Appellate Court for their extremely thorough and detailed review of Mr. Moreta’s claims,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a release. “Mr. Moreta’s criminal history has finally caught up with him and the issues raised in his appeal were nothing more than a last, desperate attempt to avoid spending the rest of his life behind bars. I would like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Alyssa Rabulinski of my office’s Criminal Appeals Division for their efforts in ensuring that Mr. Moreta is held responsible for his crimes.” Image via Shutterstock.
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