'National Day of Johns' Prostitution Sting Nets 19 Arrests in Lake County

Lake County Sheriff’s deputies went undercover arresting 19 in a continuing campaign to suppress the demand for purchased sex.

The sheriff’s office criminal investigations division and special investigations unit joined a coalition of federal and local law enforcement agencies in a nationwide operation that specifically targeted customers of prostitutes before known as “johns.”

The two-day operation was a web-based reverse sting targeting southern and northern Lake County. Deputies posted as prostitutes with an “escort” advertisement on a social media site that has been used frequently to transact prostitution, according to a news advisory.

When the johns arrived and offered money to the undercover deputies for sex, they were arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail, Sheriff Mark Curran Jr. said.

Sheriff’s deputies made 19 arrests as a result of the operation, including:

Frank G. Karkazis, 52, of Northbrook

Ronald A. Raffel, 71, of Highland Park

Matthew A. Nelson, 52, of Vernon Hills

John Coldea, 48, of Lincolnwood

Dana M. Oberlin, 59, of Northfield

Dimitar I. Dimitrov, 49, of Schiller Park

Jerome W. Sekulich, 55, of Waukegan

Jose L. Beverra-Mucino, 31, of Waukegan

Douglas W. Folger, 42, of Lindenhurst

Gustavo Gallardo-Mendoza, 43, of Beach Park

Goran Jovanovic, 38, of Chicago

Maurillo Reyes-Zamora, 25, of Zion

Guadalupe J. Sanchez, 39, of Round Lake Park

Patrick Y. Bance, 38, of Libertyville

Curtis B. Campbell, 54, of Kenosha Wi.

Isaac Franklin Foster IV, 32, of North Chicago

Thomas A. Hills, 55, of Waukegan

Baltazar Reyes, 50, of Waukegan

Miguel Angel Rodriguez, 34, of North Chicago

A total of 570 alleged “johns” were arrested throughout the United States as a result of this nationwide campaign.

“We do not desire to be the morals police, however, prostitution is illegal,” said Curran in a written statement. “Further, prostitution is not a victimless crime and the sex trade and sex slavery are evils that we will fight with all we have.”