Lake County Gazette

Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner is calling for sweeping reform following the arrest of an illegal alien who was previously released by a Lake County judge after admitting that he concealed the body of a missing woman—a case Gartner says highlights the dangerous consequences of partisan politics and flawed criminal justice policies.

Gartner expressed deep frustration over the release of Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, a 52-year-old Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally, who was charged in April with concealing the death and abusing the corpse of 37-year-old Megan Bos. 

Bos’s headless body was found in a bleach-filled container in Mendoza-Gonzalez’s Waukegan yard, two months after she was reported missing. Despite the severity of the charges, Lake County Judge Randie Bruno released Mendoza-Gonzalez in April within 48 hours under Illinois' controversial SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail. 

Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, a Mexican national in the U.S. illegally, was charged in April 2025 with concealing and abusing the corpse of Megan Bos, 37. | ICE

Mendoza-Gonzalez remained free until Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested him in Chicago on July 19. He is now being held at Lake County Jail in Waukegan.

Gartner, a civil attorney with 25 years of courtroom experience, said the case reveals a fundamental failure in the justice system and a dangerous overreach of political ideology.

“First off, I'm glad somebody actually did something about it, because whether he's walking around in Chicago or took off to his original country of origin or somewhere else, nobody wants violent criminals or someone who would conceal a dead body like that in their community,” Gartner told the Lake County Gazette. “So I'm glad someone took action. It's ironic that, locally, the prosecutors are now scrambling to bring him back and prosecute him.” 

Gartner criticized the initial decision by Bruno to release Mendoza-Gonzalez, emphasizing the failure to properly detain him despite the gravity of the charges.

“They should never have allowed this to happen in the first place,” he said. “They should have made sure to find charges to keep him detained, given the seriousness of these crimes, especially involving a death and a body. It just defies common sense.”

Gartner also addressed the case in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago shortly after Mendoza-Gonzalez’s release in April noting he was "shocked" at the release. 

At the time, Mendoza-Gonzalez claimed Bos had overdosed and that instead of reporting her death, he broke her phone and hid her body in a bleach filled vat his backyard.

The body of Megan Bos, 37, was found in a bleach-filled container in Mendoza-Gonzalez's Waukegan yard. (Photo credit:  United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

However, observers such as State Rep. Tom Weber (R-Fox Lake) noted there was insufficient time for investigators to rule out homicide before Mendoza-Gonzalez’s initial release, after which he went missing before being arrested by ICE.

“Is this a non-detainible offense? Should we not find out, wait for a toxicology report, anything?"  Weber said at the time. 

Gartner laid blame at the feet of progressive lawmakers and prosecutors, arguing that political agendas have replaced rational judgment.

“I attribute it to people letting politics and partisan politics cloud judgment on what’s right and wrong,” Gartner said. “Sometimes in this country we are so divided politically or pandering to a base that we have no common sense when it comes to these laws not letting judges use some common sense. I can understand these acts for nonviolent criminals or petty drug offenses and things of that nature. But this has gone too far when the cashless bail and the SAFE-T Act apply to situations involving death, weapons, property damage, serious crimes. There’s no law and order. I would say we have a bigger problem in society in that regard.”

At the center of the controversy is Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart, one of only two prosecutors in Illinois who supported the SAFE-T Act when it was passed.

Critics argue that Rinehart’s at-all-costs political alignment and reluctance to engage with the full public has deepened distrust in the system.

“Eric Rinehart, I know he's a life-long public defender, nothing wrong with that,” Gartner said. “People are innocent until proven guilty and deserve a defense. However, to take it so far that people who commit heinous crimes just walk out of jail, especially given his status as a non-taxpayer or an illegal immigrant, makes it even more confusing.”

The release of Mendoza-Gonzalez also triggered backlash from ICE officials, including Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. 

“Everyday ICE is arresting sickos like criminal illegal alien, Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, and stopping them from terrorizing Americans. This depraved alien was charged with concealing the body of a missing woman in a storage container for months and abusing her corpse,” McLaughlin said in a press release announcing Mendoza-Gonzalez’s arrest. “It is absolutely repulsive that a judge freed this monster and allowed him to walk free on Illinois’s streets after allegedly committing such a heinous crime.” 

McLaughlin vowed justice for Megan Bos and her family and pointed to the relaunch of the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office to assist victims of crimes involving illegal aliens. 

Local political leaders have also accused Rinehart of dodging accountability. In September 2022, he attended a closed meeting on the SAFE-T Act at the Grayslake Area Public Library, restricted to Democratic township members. 

Republicans, including Lake County Board Member Dick Barr, were turned away and later called on Rinehart to publicly explain his support for the law. 

“Please speak publicly to this important issue that affects all of Lake County and Illinois,” Barr said at the time. 

Rinehart’s critics include Lake County GOP Chairman Keith Brin, who said he promotes a “pro-crime agenda” and neglects his duty to keep residents safe. 

Former congressional candidate Scott Kaspar went further, alleging that Rinehart, like former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, is part of a network of progressive prosecutors backed by leftist billionaire George Soros. 

Gartner emphasized that the consequences of local elections are real and dangerous if voters don’t stay informed.

“Certain prosecutions and prosecutors changed after George Floyd in 2020, along with calls to defund the police and some of the laws that followed,” he said. “I don’t know if there was much common sense involved.” 

“In Chicago and Lake County, some very far-left prosecutors were elected, and I believe there were only two prosecutors who supported the SAFE-T Act as it was written. These are the real consequences. When local elections happen and people don’t think these things through, letting partisan politics play such a big role, this is the result.”

Gartner’s Antioch Police Department along with the Waukegan Police Department investigated Mendoza-Gonzalez before he was released. 

The Safe-T Act and the release of criminals accused of serious crimes such as Mendoza-Gonzalez has Gartner working to “keep the morale of the police up.” 

“When they work all these hours, and sometimes even risking their lives and their own safety, and then they solve a crime or make an arrest or go into a difficult situation, and people are immediately released from prison or there are no charges brought, that brings their morale down,” Gartner said. “So we have to make sure our local police and recruitment efforts are strong, and then we have make sure that our local citizens know that we're gonna do whatever we can to keep them safe, we will arrest people and try and prosecute them for violent crimes.” 

Mounting public outrage following Mendoza-Gonzalez’s release continues to fuel calls for a renewed commitment to public safety in Lake County.

“Obviously, once it's turned over to the prosecuting authorities, we would ask them to make sure that they prosecute these violent criminals and keep them off our street,” Gartner said.