1/8/2021 – An Elk Grove Village man who pleaded guilty in federal court to attempted second-degree murder in the 2018 shooting of a postal worker was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly sentenced Cameron Ruebusch, 26, during a 90-minute hearing held via video conference.
Kennelly said he considered various factors, including troubling issues in Ruebusch’s background, in reaching the sentence, but he described the shooting of Stephen Casazza Jr. of Arlington Heights as a “horrendous crime.”
“You can only thank God Mr. Casazza wasn’t killed. It was just dumb luck, basically,” Kennelly said before imposing the sentence.
Casazza was “minding his own business, doing his job” on Dec. 31, 2018, when Ruebusch came out of his house on the 200 block of West Brantwood Avenue with a loaded gun and shot him, Kennelly said.
“He fired multiple shots from close range,” said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Chester Choi. “He shot to kill and almost succeeded.”
Cameron Ruebusch of Elk Grove Village, right, was sentenced to 16 years in prison Friday in a plea deal involving the shooting on New Year’s Eve 2018 of postal worker Stephen Casazza Jr., left
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Elk Grove Village Man Charged with Trying to Murder Postal Carrier on New Year’s Eve
US Department of Justice Press Release
4/19/2019 –CHICAGO — An Elk Grove Village man has been indicted in federal court on charges he tried to kill a postal carrier on New Year’s Eve.
CAMERON RUEBUSCH, 24, is charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A co-defendant, RONALD BEYER, JR., 24, of Mount Prospect, is charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to the assault allegedly committed by Ruebusch.
The indictment was returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Arraignments have not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Craig Goldberg, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. The Elk Grove Village Police Department worked closely with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and provided substantial assistance during the investigation. The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Chester Choi.
According to the indictment and a criminal complaint previously filed in the case, Ruebusch shot the U.S. Postal Service carrier on Dec. 31, 2018, in Elk Grove Village. According to the complaint, the mail carrier had recently completed a delivery in the 200 block of West Brantwood Avenue when Ruebusch approached the USPS vehicle and said something to the effect of, “What’s up man?” The mail carrier put the vehicle in drive and drove away as Ruebusch fired a handgun, the charges allege. The mail carrier was wounded but survived.
Beyer allegedly drove Ruebusch from the scene after the shooting.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The attempted murder and assault charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the maximum sentence for each of the firearm counts is ten years. The accessory charge against Beyer is punishable by up to ten years. If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.