Jul 22, 2009 10:40 pm US/Central
Alleged Hazing Victim Accused Of Being A Con
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Stamatios Shinas has had three arrests on theft charges in the past five years.
Chicago Police Department
Many of you were first introduced to Stamatios Shinas when he came forward to say he was a victim of hazing at his former high school. The claims were enough to make your stomach turn.
"I trusted them and we played together every day football, and I got to know them pretty well," Shinas said.
But his face and his story of being a victim upset the wrong person who tipped us off to this. As CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports Shinas is now accused of being a con and a crook.
Last month, Shinas said at a news conference, "I don't trust anybody anymore."
But several people say he's the one not to be trusted, including Tina Marinaro.
"Even just hearing his name, I get a sick feeling of just disgust," Marinaro said.
And Khaled Mahmoud: "I can tell him that he should look at himself," he said.
The story CBS 2 did last month was about Shinas' allegations that he was sexually assaulted in 1999 during a hazing incident that involved his Stevenson High School football team.
After that story aired, we learned that Shinas himself last year was caught driving on a suspended license and has had three arrests on theft charges in 2008, 2006 and 2004. He's also had lawsuits filed against him from people who say Shinas ripped them off.
"I feel taken advantage of," Marinaro said.
The 2008 theft charge involved Tina Marinaro. She says she and a friend met Shinas at Apartment Source when they were looking for a place to rent. She says they gave him nearly $1,500 for a place on Racine. Marinaro says Shinas took their money and disappeared.
"He's a criminal and he needs to be punished," Marinaro said.
Shinas got two years probation in Marinaro's case and was ordered to pay restitution.
But prosecutors say his arrest also violated a previous probation from another theft case, so now he could face up to a year in jail.
Khaled Mahmoud, who owns a Chicago taxi management business, says in 2005 he sued Shinas after selling him seven out-of-service cabs and getting stiffed for $3,500.
"The check was come back for closed account," Mahmoud said. "And I tried to call him to get the money but his number was disconnected."
Attorney Blake Horowitz represents Shinas in his hazing lawsuit.
"I would apologize to them on his behalf, to the extent that it's true that these things have occurred," Horowitz said. "It occurs all the time that people that are emotionally traumatized may later traumatize other people."
"That doesn't make it right to take advantage of people," Marinaro said.
"I'd like at least to get justice," Mahmoud said.
Shinas' 2004 case was dismissed. But we found he had even more theft allegations from last year, and those allegations included Shinas saying he worked for other real estate companies when he didn't.
In the Apartment Source case, court records say he did go to a job orientation, but was not working for the company.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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