Stelio Kalkounos

Stelio G. Kalkounos, 33, of 270 Payson St., initially maintained his innocence after he was arrested in Milwaukee this spring, but on Aug. 2 he agreed to a plea deal that may result in a four- to five-year prison term.His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3 at U.S. District Court in Milwaukee.Kalkounos, the general manager of Chicago Prime Steakhouse in Schaumburg, admitted that he chatted online with a person he thought to be a 14-year-old girl and arranged to meet her for sex March 26 in Milwaukee.He had actually been chatting with an undercover Milwaukee police detective.After driving up to Wisconsin, police stopped his car three blocks away from the arranged meeting place, according to court documents.Inside his Cadillac Escalade, police said they found a gym bag containing condoms and a key to a hotel room.Kalkounos was indicted on federal charges because he had crossed state lines.He pled not guilty on May 19, and his attorneys filed several motions to dismiss the charges June 9, claiming there was no evidence that Kalkounos had believed he was meeting with a minor.A judge threw out the motions to dismiss the charges July 24, however, and Kalkounos signed off on the plea agreement a week later.

The investigation and subsequent arrest were coordinated by Wisconsin's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice.