Man sentenced to 6½ years for assaulting, threatening Chicago restaurateur over $405K loan

CHICAGO - A man convicted of threatening and assaulting a Chicago restaurateur while trying to collect a loan has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison.

Federal prison sentence

What we know:

Federal prosecutors said Jawad Fakroune loaned approximately $405,000 to the restaurateur to help develop and open a new restaurant in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood and to cover certain tax obligations.

According to prosecutors, Fakroune began threatening the restaurateur in November 2024 over repayment of the loan. On the evening of Nov. 25, 2024, he confronted the victim and demanded money while threatening the restaurateur and his family.

During the confrontation, prosecutors said Fakroune choked, punched and kicked the restaurateur as he continued demanding repayment.

Earlier this year, a federal jury in Chicago found Fakroune, 46, guilty on two extortion-related charges. Prosecutors said he also used the names "Angelino Escobar" and "Anjelino Escobar." Fakroune is a foreign national who most recently lived in the Chicago area.

On June 30, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah sentenced Fakroune to 78 months in federal prison.

The case was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the FBI's Chicago Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago.

What they're saying:

"The offenses of conviction reflect defendant’s violent nature, danger to the community, and lawlessness," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Hennessy and Richard M. Rothblatt argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. "Business disputes are resolved in courts of law—not through violent confrontations in public restaurants."