At the University of Illinois, he was a member of the Illini Jujitsu and Judo Team and was a two-time 209+ lbs Illinois StateJudo Champion.
Upon graduating from the University of Illinois, Gino began his career in law enforcement. He is a 1990 Honor Graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, and is a certified police officer in both the State of Indiana and the State of Illinois. In his 20+ years as a police officer, he has served as a patrol officer, tactical officer and detective. He also has received specialized training and served as a Juvenile Officer, Street Gang Specialist, Field Training Officer (FTO), FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, Accident Investigator, Defensive Tactics Instructor, Firearms Armorer and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-D). He has been the recipient of over 20 police commendations, awards and distinctions for his service.
While working full-time as a police patrol officer on the “graveyard” midnight shift, Gino attended law school in the evenings at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, from where he graduated in 2001. He then became an Assistant State’s Attorney (prosecutor) with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office where he served as a DUI prosecutor, an ASA in the Grand Jury and Felony Review Section, and as a felony narcotics prosecutor with the Organized Crime Unit before entering private practice in 2005.
In Jan 2010, Gino was selected by the United States Department of Justice to travel to southeastern Europe (the former Yugoslavia) as a contract advisor to the Republic of Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the Balkans, he spent 18 months assisting in the development of a practical criminal justice infrastructure and other essential Rule of Law institutions, with a special emphasis on enhancing the cooperation and teamwork among prosecutors and police officers.
Gino unwaveringly believes that the US Constitution, with its Bill of Rights, Fundamental Freedoms, and the strong U.S. tradition of an unassailable Rule of Law, makes the United States of America the greatest country in the history of humankind. One’s ultimate guilt or innocence should be determined by a jury of your peers, not by the prosecutor, and especially not by your lawyer. If you are charged with a crime, you need a lawyer who will fight hard to protect your rights and freedoms, and never question the fundamental right that you are innocent until proven guilty, and that you must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.