Sex Solicitation Defendants Get Steep Bail From Strict Judge

JOLIET, IL - Will County Judge Roger Rickmon was substituting at bond court on Monday afternoon and that was not good news for four young adults charged in a violent, sexual solicitation crime from over the weekend. One after another, the codefendants appeared through a video feed at the Will County Adult Detention Facility. Anthony Edwards, Richard Soo Russell, Joshua Foster and Alexis Gross are accused of luring two unsuspecting men to a rental property in the 800 block of Joliet's Kelly Avenue under the promise of sex. When the guys showed up on Saturday morning, expecting to hook up with the 19-year-old Gross, they were jumped, beaten and robbed by the three men, Edwards, Foster and Russell, according to testimony offered in Courtroom 305 by assistant state's attorney Chris Messina.

After the first person showed up on Kelly Avenue, the three men proceeded to beat him, steal his cell phone, plus his car keys and then they apparently drove his car to a nearby CVS Pharmacy, according to testimony. A few hours later, a similar situation unfolded at the same house. The second victim, "he came for sex" and they "attacked him with a pipe," Messina informed the judge.

When Rickmon learned that Edwards' mother, father and sister were all seated in the Courtroom 305 gallery, the veteran judge invited them to stand in the front of the courtroom, so that their incarcerated son could see them through the video monitor.

After learning the codefendants have had previous scrapes with the law in Will County, Rickmon was not in the mood to go easy on them. One at a time, the four learned they are being charged with two Class X armed robbery felonies carrying six to 30 years of prison time plus two other Class 2 robbery felonies that carried four to 15 years incarceration.

The judge asked Edwards how much money he could post to bail himself out of jail. Edwards responded, "$1,000, sir." But given that Edwards was already on probation at the time of Saturday's crime in Joliet, Rickmon set Edwards' bail at $500,000.

ORIGINAL STORY: Man Jumped At House On Kelly Avenue

During Foster's bond hearing, one of the Will County public defenders asked Foster how much money he had available to post bail.

"You say what?" Foster responded.

After understanding the question, Foster responded he could come up with $3,000 cash.

"You're a little short," Judge Rickmon announced, informing Foster he needs $50,000 cash because his bail was being set at $500,000.

Finally, the judge called the fourth codefendant, Gross.

Although jail records indicate that Gross lives in Romeoville, the judge informed the courtroom that Gross was homeless.

Rickmon also told her that some of her criminal charges carried between six and 30 years of prison. "You understand, you are going to prison if you are convicted?" Rickmon told her.

"Yes, sir," she replied in a passive tone over the video feed from the county jail.

Noting that Gross was homeless, the judge told her that she was also getting a $500,000 bail, like her three codefendants.

"Now young lady," Rickmon told her, "You're going to need $50,000."

The judge then informed her that that meant five, zero, comma, zero, zero, zero dollars.

Anthony Edwards, 20, Crest Hill resident

Joshua Foster, 21, Joliet resident

Richard Soo Russell, 22, Crest Hill resident

Mugshots via Will County Sheriff's Department