Mario Casciaro will seek a certificate of innocence, with a status hearing slated for late September, resulting from his overturned conviction in the 2002 death of Johnsburg native Brian Carrick.

The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office and Mario Casciaro reached a monetary settlement over a wrongful conviction lawsuit filed last March, stemming from the alleged murder of Johnsburg native, Brian Carrick, in 2002.

The Sept. 8 announcement before Circuit Court Judge Sharon Prather stipulated a payment of $50,000 for the county department to be released from the lawsuit, which is still ongoing with the Village of Johnsburg, and its police department, as defendants.

The settlement announcement also reinstated State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally to represent the prosecution in a subsequent related case, where Casciaro is seeking a certificate of innocence. Kenneally had recused himself to remove a potential conflict of interest, and requested a special prosecutor be assigned from the special prosecutions unit of the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s Office.

“Mario Casciaro filed a lawsuit that included a baseless and false allegation against a member of the State’s Attorney’s Office,” said Kenneally, in an emailed statement. “We agreed to settle the case for $50,000 at an early stage of litigation, far less than it would cost to successfully defend the suit.  In view of our fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers, and aside from the fact that this lawsuit would assuredly result in zero liability at trial, we had no choice but to accept.

“Our acceptance is in no way a recognition of wrongdoing on the part of this office, and we remain confident that the office properly brought charges against Mr. Casciaro,” He said. “We maintained the highest level of professionalism and integrity throughout the prosecution, which resulted in a jury of twelve citizens finding Mr. Casciaro guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Defense attorney Kathleen Zellner brought the suit forward in March over “fabricated and withheld evidence” that helped convict Casciaro in 2013, during a second jury trial, and he received a sentence of 26 years. Testimony from witness Shane Lamb was used in the prosecution efforts, and later recanted by Lamb himself. Lamb identified Michael Combs, from the criminal prosecution unit of the state’s attorney’s office, as coaching the story and offering immunity from prosecution in Carrick’s alleged death.

Casciaro, 33, was released after an appellate court hearing in 2015, which cited Lamb’s testimony in particular as containing a “lack of credibility,” and the prosecution’s case characterized as “overreaching.” Carrick’s body has never been found, nor was he seen again after arriving for work at Val’s Foods, which was co-owned by Casciaro’s parents and the Di Marco family. His parents, now deceased, never gave up the search for him, or justice.

Lamb’s court testimony involved allegedly being asked by Casciaro to “talk’ with Carrick about a drug money debt, admitted to “getting out of control” and punching the youth. Carrick struck the back of his head on the concrete produce cooler floor, and died. Casciaro allegedly told Lamb that he would get rid of the body. Another employee, Robert Render, was in proximity of the incident. The lawsuit contends that Render was deliberately “withheld” from defense attorney, in trail preparation and through the process.

Blood was found in the produce cooler, later attributed by authorities to Render and his nail-biting habit, although a pair of stained undergarments were lost. The civil suit alleges that Johnsburg Police Chief Keith Von Allmen was friends with Render’s father, and acted in a biased manner. Render was charged with concealment in the case in 2008, but charges were later dismissed. Render died in 2012.

Lamb is currently serving time in prison for an unrelated theft of firearms, and break-in, at a private residence. Casciaro’s court path included charges of perjury being brought to the county’s Grand Jury, through former county state’s attorney Louis Bianchi, although the indictments were dismissed. A criminal trial took place ending with a hung jury, and a second jury trail resulted in the guilty verdict, later overturned on appeal.

Casciaro had said that he was “sitting in a concrete block, reading, when they came and told me I was going to be freed. It wasn’t until I was outside and saw Kathleen Zellner, family members, and then, smelled the fresh air … that I knew it was true.”

A status hearing on a certificate of innocence is slated for later this month, and Kenneally will appear for the state.

“I will fight it,” he said, during a phone contact. “We know the verdict that was delivered by the jury is the correct one. Regarding the settlement, they were seeking millions of dollars and this was the most expedient way to save the county even more costs associated with the litigation. About $45,000 of the settlement will be covered by insurance.”

Casciaro studied law, while incarcerated, and passed the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), last fall. He is now working with the Chicago-based Federal Defender’s Office, and completing law school. Casciaro was unavailable for comment.

“I’m happy that he got his life back, and is headed in a positive direction,” said Eugene Casicaro, his brother. “The entire family is glad he’s back home, where he belongs, and this episode is being put behind him.”

—- Casciaro reaches settlement with McHenry Co. state’s attorney —-