An Illinois man has pleaded guilty after police said he repeatedly collected cash from a Huntley resident with an intellectual disability who believed he was communicating with an attractive woman through an online dating app.
Taye Sallis-Lewis, 23, entered a negotiated guilty plea September 17 to a Class 2 theft-by-deception charge in McHenry County case 2025CF000885. The court withheld judgment and placed him on two years of Second Chance Probation while ordering him to pay $7,800 in restitution.
The scheme involved approximately $7,800 in cash and four automobile rims valued at about $1,400. Police said the victim had been pressured and blackmailed over several days after beginning an online relationship with someone presenting herself as a young woman.
Sallis-Lewis was identified as the man who came to the residence to collect the payments. Police arrested him during what was supposed to be another pickup in October 2025, and officers found a loaded Glock in his vehicle. The weapon charge filed in the case was later dropped as part of the court disposition.
The Online Relationship Quickly Turned Into Requests for Money
The victim’s family told police that he had recently begun communicating with someone who appeared to be an attractive young woman on a dating app, according to Huntley police’s account reported by Shaw Local. After establishing a relationship online, the person began asking him for money for living expenses and beauty maintenance.
Instead of sending money electronically, the victim was instructed to hand it to a man who arrived at his Huntley home. Police identified Sallis-Lewis as the courier and said he returned to the residence multiple times to collect cash.
The requests continued over several days. Huntley police said the victim was repeatedly extorted and ultimately handed thousands of dollars to the same man. Court documents also connected Sallis-Lewis to four automobile rims valued at approximately $1,400.
Missing Rims Led the Family to the Cash
The scheme began to unravel after a family member reported four missing automobile rims to Huntley police in October 2025.
The following day, the family discovered that nearly $8,000 in cash was also missing. When relatives questioned the victim, police said he explained that he had been giving money and property to people who were blackmailing him.
Another cash pickup had already been arranged for that afternoon. Huntley officers and detectives worked with the family while preparing to intercept whoever arrived to collect the money.
Police Were Waiting at the Next Pickup
Sallis-Lewis arrived at the home at about 5:30 p.m. on October 7, 2025, and was taken into custody by the Huntley Police Department with assistance from an Illinois State Police task force. Police identified him as the person who had conducted the earlier pickups.
Officers also found a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine in his vehicle. McHenry County court records show that the original complaint included a Class 2 theft-by-deception charge and a Class 4 aggravated unlawful use of a weapon charge. Those complaint counts were later dismissed after they were superseded by the indictment.
The original complaint counts were later superseded when the case proceeded by indictment. Current McHenry County court records show that prosecutors ultimately proceeded on three indictment counts.
Sallis-Lewis Pleaded Guilty and Was Ordered to Repay $7,800
The court record shows that Sallis-Lewis entered a negotiated guilty plea September 17 to an indicted Class 2 theft-by-deception count. Under Illinois law, theft by deception involving at least $5,000 from a person with a disability is a Class 2 felony.
Prosecutors nolle prossed a Class 3 theft-by-deception count involving more than $500 but less than $10,000, along with the Class 4 aggravated unlawful use of a weapon count.
The court withheld judgment on the count to which Sallis-Lewis pleaded guilty and placed him on two years of Second Chance Probation under 730 ILCS 5/5-6-3.4.
The sentence includes $7,800 in restitution, 30 hours of public service, $2,074 in fines, costs and fees, and four days of credit for time already served.
Illinois’ Second Chance Probation statute allows a qualifying defendant to be placed on probation without an immediate judgment being entered. A disposition under the statute is not treated as a conviction under Illinois law unless judgment is later entered. If the probation terms are successfully completed, the statute directs the court to discharge the person and dismiss the proceedings.
The FTC Warns Against Sending Money to an Online Love Interest
The Federal Trade Commission warns that romance scammers create fake online identities, build trust and eventually ask their targets for money.
The FTC advises people not to send money or gifts to a romantic interest they have not met in person and warns that scammers commonly invent personal or financial emergencies to obtain money.