Bretz: Ex-Joliet West Teacher Will Never Commit Another Crime

JOLIET, IL — Saturday marked one year since a Joliet West High School math teacher Ashlee Catalani wound up inside Will County's Jail. She was charged with a total of five crimes in connection with the violent beating of her ex-boyfriend, who also lives in Joliet.

Catalani's co-defendant, Ponciano Vargas, a 42-year-old Crest Hill man who lives on Ingalls Avenue, administered the beating, according to court records.

Last week, Joliet Patch interviewed Catalani's criminal defense lawyer, Chuck Bretz, of Bretz, Flynn & Associates.

In mid-September, Bretz worked out a plea bargain with the Will County State's Attorney's Office for his client. Under the terms, four of the five charges were dropped against Catalani.

Catalani, now 34, pleaded guilty to criminal trespass to a residence, a misdemeanor. She received two years of conditional discharge from Will County's judiciary and $544 in fines.

On Dec. 18, a Will County judge determined that Catalani is complying with the terms of her conditional discharge, court records show.

Although Catalani was still being listed on the Joliet West High School math department faculty as of this weekend, school officials told Joliet Patch on Monday that it was oversight.

"Ms. Catalani is not employed with the district. Your story prompted me to look at our staff directory and I corrected the error removing her from the website," a spokeswoman for Joliet Township High School District 204 informed Joliet Patch.

Her resignation took effect at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, the district said.

In any event, Bretz told Patch that Catalani was not responsible for the attack involving her ex-boyfriend.

"She's a very solid person," Bretz told Joliet Patch's editor last week. "Getting involved in something like this was completely out of character for her. She has no record, and she's a school teacher. The problem wasn't really with her, but with the co-defendant."

Bretz told Joliet Patch he's confident Catalani will never wind up charged with any other criminal offense for the rest of her life.

(Joliet Patch article continues below this photo of Joliet attorney Chuck Bretz.)

According to Bretz, Catalani and Ponciano Vargas drove over to Catalani's ex-boyfriend's place, where Catalani still had access, in December 2019. Timber Ridge Court is an apartment complex on Joliet's west side near I-55 and the South East Frontage Road.

Once inside, Vargas saw Catalani's ex-boyfriend "in a compromising situation" with another woman that he was seeing, prompting Vargas to attack Catalani's ex-boyfriend, according to Bretz.

"Ashlee is a good girl," Bretz told Joliet Patch. "She, at the end of the day, did not intend for anything inappropriate to happen. And the codefendant finds a girl he happens to be seeing ... he's the one who became violent."

The original complaint filed by the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow indicated that Catalani was accused of attacking another woman, "in that said defendant pulled (the woman's) hair."

Catalani's ex-boyfriend, who subsequently obtained a protection order against her after the crime, told Will County authorities that "Ashlee drove a man to my house. She and this man used the code to my home to gain entry. She has the code to my house. Once they were inside, he punched me repeatedly and did criminal damage to property."

The ex-boyfriend also told a Will County judge that "they ripped an exterior light off the outside of my house. They threw a lamp and threw my TV at a wall. They also punched a hole in my wall," according to court documents.

According to the man, his left ear and the back of his head were left swollen. "I had to go to the emergency room ... from the beating," he told Joliet police.

Vargas was accepted into Will County's Veterans Court program, court records show.

The court calendar shows that Vargas is set to be back in court this Wednesday, Jan. 13, related to his multiple charges of criminal trespass to a residence, his one charge of battery causing bodily harm and one charge of criminal damage to property.

To read Joliet Patch's original news article on the arrests of Catalani and Vargas, go here.