COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Chicago fashion designer who reportedly dressed comedian Bernie Mac for more than a decade was acquitted by a jury Friday on charges he raped a woman in 2013 in the Streeterville condominium building where they both live.
Designer Elhadji Gueye, the founder of HAJ Designs, was charged almost a year ago with sexually assaulting a woman who invited him and his two daughters to her Streeterville home for a traditional African meal, prosecutors said.
The woman, 29 at the time, claimed that Gueye showed up at her condo on Aug. 27 without his children, according to prosecutors. After dinner, she said he pinned her down, raped her and then made himself a plate of food to take home.
But attorneys representing Gueye argued last week that the woman set him up in order to extort $50,000.
"She is not the victim," defense attorney Donna Rotunno said Friday, arguing that the woman had consensual sex with Gueye only to falsely cry rape weeks later.
Gueye "sits here an innocent man," Rotunno said.
Gueye, who goes by the name "Haj" in fashion circles, specializes in men's and women's suits. He was born in Senegal and raised in Paris, according to his website.
He has dressed boxer Mike Tyson and the late Chicago comedian Bernie Mac, according to his website.
HAJ Designs vows to create "The most perfect suit for men and women the world has ever known," according to his website.
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