The Story of a Retired IDOT Worker

Kingsley, a retired 20-year employee for the Illinois Department of Transportation, had a successful career as maintenance driver.

The Jamaican immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen held a commercial driver’s license which allowed him to drive a snowplow. In other jobs, he navigated the area roads and highways as a limo and bus driver.

But he ran into trouble at the wheel of his own car.

He was driving home from his birthday dinner when a group of four white men pulled up behind him and antagonized him. They stayed on his tail as he changed lanes, trying to de-escalate the situation. As a driver for IDOT, he knew how interactions like these could quickly spin out of control.

“I finally pulled off on the shoulder, took my weapon out of the glove compartment, and put it on the dashboard,” he said, explaining he hoped it would scare off the aggressors, which it did. They took off.

He had a license to carry a concealed weapon and thought the ordeal was over, but the aggressors called the police and lied. They said Kingsley pointed his weapon at them.

When police arrived, Kingsley was nervous and afraid. Having read the U.S. Constitution, he knew he had a right to remain silent and declined to make a statement. Police arrested him and he was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony. At his first court hearing, Kingsley told his side of the story. The State’s Attorney agreed to lower the charges to a misdemeanor and gave him probation.

That was in 2021. Four years later, struggling to find a part-time job in retirement due to the arrest showing up on a background check, Kingsley reached out to Coalition Legal.

President/Managing Attorney Stephen R. Miller took Kingsley’s case. “This was his only arrest. He was a good worker for IDOT. I prepared him to speak confidently yet humbly in court,” Miller said.

An experienced lawyer with a winning strategy to question clients in front of a judge, Miller knew exactly how to handle this case in court.

“I anticipated the cross examination and challenged Kingsley myself. I asked him: Are you aware that the men claim you pointed the gun at them? It took the wind out of the sails of the State’s Attorney,” Miller said.

Kingsley answered he had no idea what they said, assumed that they said it, but that it just wasn’t true.

The expungement judge found Kingsley credible and expunged the case.

“I’m glad the judge listened to me,” said Kingsley. “My future plans are to find better housing, better loans from banks, and better jobs. Working with Coalition Legal was easy.”

If someone else’s lie got you into legal trouble, your case may be eligible for expungement/sealing. Visit the home page of our website to fill out our application and get started.