Wilmington Native Sentenced For Dumping Body

JOLIET, IL - On July 8, 2017, someone alerted police to the gruesome discovery of a young woman's body near the shoreline of the Kankakee River in Wilmington Township. Eventually, authorities determined that the young woman was Martha Sanchez, a 24-year-old Chicago resident of the city's Northwest Side who disappeared three days earlier. Then in August, the Illinois State Police arrested two men in connection with the dumping of her body here in Will County.

Calumet City resident Jonathan Rodriguez, then 29, and Esteban "Steve" Rodriguez, then 27, of Tinley Park and formerly of Wilmington, were both charged by the State's Attorney in Will County with felony crimes of intimidation and concealing a death.

Now, one of the cases has been resolved.

Will County Courthouse records confirm Esteban Rodriguez pleaded guilty last week to the more serious felony crime of intimidation. Under his plea, the concealing of a death charge got dismissed.

"Defendant communicated a threat to the victim by implying that something bad would happen to her if she talked with the police," court records reflect.

Patch previously reported that the criminal complaint stated that the two men threatened to harm a woman ... "if she spoke to anyone about Martha Sanchez."

Esteban Rodriguez got sentenced to two years at the Illinois Department of Corrections for his July 5 role surrounding the Sanchez death. Court records show that Rodriguez has quite an extensive criminal history during his 28 years of life. His previous convictions and incarcerations include aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of marijuana, aggravated drunken driving, aggravated drunken driving again, theft and retail theft.

The defendant was represented by lawyer Neil Patel of the downtown Joliet law firm of Chuck Bretz & Associates.

For now, the case against his co-defendant, Jonathan Rodriguez, is continuing at the Will County Courthouse, but his defense attorney, Cosmo Tedone, told Joliet Patch on Wednesday that Tedone remains optimistic that a plea agreement may materialize in the near future as well.

Jonathan Rodriguez, however, also faces murder and attempted murder charges back in Cook County, cases that have nothing to do with Sanchez's death, Tedone said.

Will County Jail records list him as still being a prisoner at the Joliet facility on South Chicago Street.

Tedone said that previous courtroom testimony established that the co-defendants were at a party where Sanchez was present and that she was extremely high, under the influence of drugs.

On Wednesday, Will County Coroner's Office representatives told Patch that the cause and manner of Sanchez's July 5 death remain undetermined, almost 11 months later.

In any event, The Will County State's Attorney's Office said last weeks' plea agreement and sentencing of Esteban Rodriguez does not prevent the police from bringing additional charges in the case at a later date. Last August, Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Patrick Callaghan told Joliet Patch that more charges may be forthcoming. "This is going to be a Will County case," he said. "We are working on additional charges. I'm very proud of the work that my team did on this. They worked tirelessly."

Main photo criminal Esteban "Steve" Rodriguez via police