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Illinois Criminal Code of 1961

Article 12: Solicitation to Join a Crime Organization

Preventing the growth of gangs and organized crime associations is a priority of Illinois legislators in order to insure the safety of residents. As a result, the law prohibits anyone from forcefully soliciting membership to an organized crime group. These crimes are discussed in this section of Illinois law and are delineated into two charges.

The first, criminal street gang recruitment, occurs when a person uses threats of physical force to recruit a minor or any person on school grounds to join a street gang. Another charge in this section is Compelling Organization Membership of Persons. Even if the organization is not a criminal one, forcing an individual to join using threats of bodily harm or physical force is a crime. Each of the charges above carries a Class 1 felony status, and a sentence would likely mandate prison time.

Lastly, this section of Illinois touches on a subject slightly different from the above crimes. Forcing another person to confess to a crime is a crime in and of itself. Illinois law prohibits anyone from using threats or physical force to produce a confession from someone. A conviction under this law can carry up to a Class 2 felony status if great bodily harm was caused to the victim.

Need an Illinois criminal defense attorney? If you've been arrested for any of these crimes in Illinois, call our Chicago criminal defense attorneys today at (312) 466-9466 to discuss your case.

The text below comes from Article 12 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961. This law may have changed -- please read the important legal disclaimer at the bottom of this page.

Sec. 12-6.1. Compelling organization membership of persons.
    (720 ILCS 5/12-6.1)

A person who expressly or impliedly threatens to do bodily harm or does bodily harm to an individual or to that individual's family or uses any other criminally unlawful means to solicit or cause any person to join, or deter any person from leaving, any organization or association regardless of the nature of such organization or association, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.

Any person of the age of 18 years or older who expressly or impliedly threatens to do bodily harm or does bodily harm to a person under 18 years of age or uses any other criminally unlawful means to solicit or cause any person under 18 years of age to join, or deter any person under 18 years of age from leaving, any organization or association regardless of the nature of such organization or association is guilty of a Class 1 felony.

A person convicted of an offense under this Section shall not be eligible to receive a sentence of probation, conditional discharge, or periodic imprisonment. (Source: P.A. 91-696, eff. 4-13-00.)

Sec. 12-6.4. Criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds or public property adjacent to school grounds and criminal street gang recruitment of a minor.
    (720 ILCS 5/12-6.4)

(a) A person commits the offense of criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds or public property adjacent to school grounds when on school grounds or public property adjacent to school grounds, he or she threatens the use of physical force to coerce, solicit, recruit, or induce another person to join or remain a member of a criminal street gang, or conspires to do so. (a-5) A person commits the offense of criminal street gang recruitment of a minor when he or she threatens the use of physical force to coerce, solicit, recruit, or induce another person to join or remain a member of a criminal street gang, or conspires to do so, whether or not such threat is communicated in person, by means of the Internet, or by means of a telecommunications device. (b) Sentence. Criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds or public property adjacent to school grounds is a Class 1 felony and criminal street gang recruitment of a minor is a Class 1 felony. (c) In this Section: "Criminal street gang" has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 10 of the Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act.

"School grounds" means the building or buildings or real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school, community college, college, or university and includes a school yard, school playing field, or school playground.

"Minor" means any person under 18 years of age. "Internet" means an interactive computer service or system or an information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, and includes, but is not limited to, an information service, system, or access software provider that provides access to a network system commonly known as the Internet, or any comparable system or service and also includes, but is not limited to, a World Wide Web page, newsgroup, message board, mailing list, or chat area on any interactive computer service or system or other online service.

"Telecommunications device" means a device that is capable of receiving or transmitting speech, data, signals, text, images, sounds, codes, or other information including, but not limited to, paging devices, telephones, and cellular and mobile telephones. (Source: P.A. 96-199, eff. 1-1-10.)

Sec. 12-7. Compelling confession or information by force or threat.
    (720 ILCS 5/12-7)

(a) A person who, with intent to obtain a confession, statement or information regarding any offense, knowingly inflicts or threatens imminent bodily harm upon the person threatened or upon any other person commits the offense of compelling a confession or information by force or threat.

(b) Sentence.

Compelling a confession or information is a: (1) Class 4 felony if the defendant threatens imminent bodily harm to obtain a confession, statement, or information but does not inflict bodily harm on the victim, (2) Class 3 felony if the defendant inflicts bodily harm on the victim to obtain a confession, statement, or information, and (3) Class 2 felony if the defendant inflicts great bodily harm to obtain a confession, statement, or information. (Source: P.A. 94-1113, eff. 1-1-08.)

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DISCLAIMER: These excerpts from the law are provided for reference purposes only. Visitors to our Chicago criminal defense lawyer website should be aware that Illinois criminal laws have been amended many times and that Illinois crime laws posted on this site may not be current. In addition, Illinois criminal case law defines precedents for legal determinations that are not defined in the original laws.

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