People v. Perry

Michael Perry (defendant) and his family stayed at the Embassy Suites hotel in Lombard between January and April 2000. After staying at the hotel for multiple weeks, Perry and the hotel entered a rate agreement for $130 per night for a minimum stay of 100 nights. In arranging the agreement, Perry provided trade references and a credit card in someone else’s name. Perry also stated that he was president of Prolific Development Corporation (Prolific) and asked that the stay be billed to the company. Four bills sent to the business address were not paid, and the hotel notified Perry by means of a letter under Perry’s hotel-room door that payment was more than 60 days past due. The hotel was unable to contact anyone using the information Perry provided for Prolific, and when the hotel attempted to charge the credit card Perry provided, the cardholder contested the charges. In May 2000, Perry and his family vacated the hotel without paying the outstanding bill for occupancy, restaurant, and service charges. The bill totaled more than $15,000. Perry was convicted of theft by deception, categorized as a class 2 felony based on the value of the stolen property exceeding $10,000. The court of appeals determined that use of a hotel room was not property under the theft statute and therefore considered only non-occupancy charges in determining the value of the stolen property. Consequently, the court reclassified the conviction as a class 3 offense. The state appealed.