Free the Gooch!

I am running late, so no recap of last night¹ for you today. I’m just gonna post, verbatim, a story about my favorite felonious Chicago grandma figure…Betty Gooch!

Swindler of car dealers pushes for early release
Published March 2, 2005

NORTHWEST SUBURBS -- The lawyer for Betty Gooch, the check-bouncing grandmother who ripped off suburban car dealerships, is trying to get his client sprung less than six months after she was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Gooch, 76, was sentenced in December for bilking an Elgin auto dealer but has been behind bars since early April after being charged with scamming showrooms in Cook and McHenry Counties. Attorney Kevin Talbot said she deserves more credit for time spent in jail awaiting sentencing and should be released 2 1/2 months earlier than her June 26 parole date.

People convicted of non-violent crimes normally serve only half of their sentences. Talbot said Gooch's age and poor health should factor into the equation as well.

"We thought because of her medical background and her age they would have released her [by now]," he said.

Cook County prosecutors said they would oppose Talbot's motion at a March 16 hearing in the Rolling Meadows branch of Circuit Court. (full story)

How could you lock up that face? Let her out already!

¹Okay, I'll write one thing about last night. Danny gave me a copy of the new Milk At Midnight disc and it's super. Really, there's some great stuff in there. And banjo! More on that later, though...