Ex-Joliet police officer sentenced in domestic battery case

A former Joliet police officer facing federal drug trafficking charges has been sentenced to serve two years of conditional discharge after he was found guilty of battering his ex-wife.

The 2019 domestic battery case against William Busse, 41, of Homer Glen, concluded on June 16 when Will County Judge John Connor denied Busse’s motion for a new trial and sentenced him to two years of conditional discharge.

Under Illinois law, a conditional discharge is a sentence where a person is under a “conditional and revocable release” without having to serve probationary court supervision.

Because of Busse’s domestic battery conviction, he may face federal criminal penalties for “possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving any firearm or ammunition,” court records show.

Busse must still contend with federal charges filed on Aug. 29, 2024, that alleged he engaged in drug trafficking in Lockport, Orland Park and Chicago.

In 2020, retired Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner had recommended Busse for firing after he was arrested twice on charges of battering his ex-wife in New Lenox.

Yet Busse stayed on the force for more than a year.

Then former Joliet City Manager James Capparelli, Busse and Busse’s union lawyer reached a settlement agreement to end his employment on June 4, 2021, about six months after Roechner’s retirement.

Busse signed an agreement that said he would receive 100% of his accumulated sick, vacation and compensatory time balance within two weeks of June 4, 2021.

Busse’s agreement said he was owed about $6,490 for vacation time and about $4,294 for sick time.

The two domestic battery cases filed against Busse in 2019 faced delays and could have been dismissed when his ex-wife did not show up to court because she was not willing to participate in the case.

But Will County Judge Brian Barrett placed a material witness bond on Busse’s ex-wife in 2022 to ensure she appeared in court for trial.

At the time, Barrett said he reviewed the charges against Busse and the three protective orders his ex-wife petitioned against him in 2019. Barrett said there were significant allegations she made against Busse.

“I do not take that lightly,” Barrett said in 2022.

The first domestic battery case filed against Busse was dismissed on May 17, 2024 when Will County Judge Art Smigielski denied a motion from prosecutors, court records show.

The state motion requested another court date because two police witnesses had prescheduled vacations and were not available to testify at trial.

But the second domestic battery case went to trial on March 10, 2023. A jury found Busse guilty of domestic battery but not guilty of resisting officers.