Defendant Leaves Lake County's 1st In-Person Jury Trial This Year

WAUKEGAN, IL — The second person to stand trial before a Lake County jury of their peers since the coronavirus pandemic tossed a wrench into the gears of the criminal law system last year evidently had little confidence in his chances of acquittal.

Brian Yarbor, 37, of Zion, had been awaiting trial on charges of manufacturing or distributing less than 15 grams of cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from a September 2019 arrest by the Lake County Sheriff's Office, according to court records.

A search of his home turned up a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic gun that had been reported stolen weeks earlier in Zion in addition to several grams of cocaine, according to a statement from the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.

Yarbor was released on bail in April 2020 ahead of his trial, which began March 1.

According to the state's attorney's office, Yarbor showed up for the first day of trial and sat through the selection of the socially distanced jury, opening statements and testimony in the case.

But he never showed up for the second day of the case, skipping out on closing arguments from his defense attorney, Gran McKerlie, and Assistant State's Attorney Donald Tyer, who prosecuted the case, according to the state's attorney's office.

Yarbor also missed out on hearing the jurors deliver their verdict in the case: guilty on both counts.

Lake County Circuit Judge Daniel Shanes immediately issued a warrant for Yarbor's arrest. At a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Shanes sentenced Yarbor, who remains on the lam, to 19 years in prison.

Yarbor was ordered to serve at least 50 percent of his sentence behind bars and was given credit for about 7.5 months time served, according to court records.

RELATED: Jury Trials Returning To Lake County For 1st Time Since COVID-19

According to the state's attorney's office, Yarbor cannot be charged with the crime of escape because he was out on bond during the trial.

If arrested, prosecutors said he will be sent directly to the Illinois Department of Corrections to serve his sentence.

Yarbor is the second person to be tried by an in-person jury in Lake County since the coronavirus pandemic. McKerlie has represented the defendants in both cases.

In the other, Willie Bell was found guilty of an April 2021 aggravated discharge of a firearm in North Chicago. He was found not guilty of attempted murder and prosecutors dropped a narcotics charge, records show.

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement he was proud of his team for prosecuting the case before a jury under difficult conditions.

"Separate from the underlying weapons offense," Rinehart said, "Yarbor's decision to evade the courts during the sentencing phase of this case further justifies a lengthy prison sentence."