Letter from Milica Sumakovic — United States v. Sumakovic (Dkt. 220, N.D. Ill.)

Summary

A letter to the judge from defendant Milica Sumakovic, filed April 23, 2024 as Document 220 in United States v. Sumakovic, No. 1:20-cr-00750, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Sumakovic apologizes to the Court, the government and the agents and writes, "I am at fault and I take full responsibility." The letter says Sumakovic moved from Belgrade, Serbia to the United States to follow codefendant Marko Nikolic, became owner of mmm solution inc when the couple opened a trucking company in Chicago, and was indicted in November of 2022 after Nikolic's arrest in October 2020. It calls taking government loans and sending money for Nikolic wrong decisions and says the money has been returned.

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Case: 1:20-cr-00750 Document #: 220 Filed: 04/23/24 Page 1 of 4 PageID #:1197




Your Honor,
My name is Milica Sumakovic ,and we are all here today because of me
and my wrong decisions that I made in the past.
I am at fault and I take full responsibility.
I would love to apologize to you your Honor, Government, and the
agents.
I am 33 years old and I was born in Belgrade ,Serbia .I would describe
my childhood as very happy and full of love from both parents and my
whole family .I am the only child and have no siblings. My parents live
together in our family house in Belgrade ,Serbia. My mother is a teacher
and she works in school for over 25 years and my father is a taxi driver
,they have been married for 34 years.
Back in the 90s it was financially very difficult time for my family and for
most people living in Eastern Europe because of the war , and because
of my parents financial situation in that time they have decided to only
have one child.
I was very happy and healthy child until 3 years old when I started
having problems with asthma ,spent part of my childhood in hospital
corridors with my mother crying next to my bed and my father sleeping
in the car outside of the hospital .I was away from the school a lot .My
parents gave everything had they had from love to attention to money
for private doctors just so me -their only daughter can be healthy and
happy .I had problems with asthma until I was around 15 years old and
thanks to my parents and their love and strength I fought asthma and
was healthy again . All of the stress had big impact on my mother’s
health and because of that she has to take medications for whole her
life for thyroid and Hashimoto syndrome.
I was not able to be next to my mother and to hug her when she lost
her mother and father .I was not able to be next to my father and hug
him when he lost his sister… I talk to my parents every single day. My
mother is my biggest strength and support she spent past year and a
half with me on the phone and video calls since I was on monitoring
bracelet at my apartment alone in Elmhurst .We celebrated New Years

  Case: 1:20-cr-00750 Document #: 220 Filed: 04/23/24 Page 2 of 4 PageID #:1198




and Holidays over the video calls.My mother has brother and sister and
I am very close with my mother’s part of the family I talk to my aunt and
uncle and my cousins 3-4 times per week.
I was only 16 years old when I met love of my life – today my
codefendant and still love of my life-Marko Nikolic.
It was love at first sight .We went to the same University.
After couple years of dating ,Marko decided to come to USA .
He was in USA 2 times as a student and I waited for him to come back
first time 3 months and second time 7 months .After his final move to
the USA I decided to leave my whole life ,education and my family
behind and to follow my heart and to follow Marko wherever he goes .I
moved to USA. It was one of the hardest things seeing my mother and
father standing alone hugged together and just crying because their
only child is going very far away .There is a big Ocean between us until
today after long 10 years .Marko waited for me and after I hugged him I
knew that my heart is wherever he is. We have lived in Miami for about
1 year and I worked in a clothing store and as a hostess .After Marko got
his CDL and started driving over the road truck and being less time
home in Miami it made me decide to move into his truck and I
remember that it was very old truck but we were happy just to be
together all the time. We spent beautiful couple of months travelling in
the truck and then moved to Chicago.
I worked as a bartender in local bar in Greektown Chicago where the
owner was nicest retired police officer and I loved working there. I
stopped working there because we opened trucking company and I
became owner of mmm solution inc.
Marko was arrested in October 2020 ,since that day until 2 years later
my life was talking to him over the phone ,I was not able to go visit him
but every single day we spent hours talking ,there was not a day that I
did not talk to him .All worries about him and about that where is he
sleeping, is he safe ,does he have enough food to eat lead me to have
health issues and anxiety .November of 2022 when I was indicted and
ordered from the judge not to talk to him ,it broke my heart apart but I

  Case: 1:20-cr-00750 Document #: 220 Filed: 04/23/24 Page 3 of 4 PageID #:1199




knew that I have to listen to judges orders so I have not talked to Marko
for 2 years at all..
I remember that day of my self surrender I left my 6 years old dog who
has separation anxiety and he is my best friend ,my biggest emotional
support and my everything ,behind me in my apartment not knowing if
I will come back…
Sitting upstairs of this building locked in the cell, waiting for my bond
hearing to start with my arms and legs locked made me think about
everything how nothing in live is more important then health ,freedom
,peace of mind and my loved ones...If I don’t have one of those I have
nothing .I have realized that we were happiest inside of that old truck
travelling or watching movie with our dog at home.
After that I was ordered from the judge to stay in my friend’s apartment
,he lived with his brother and they are kindest people that I know and I
am very thankful to them for everything but I slept on the couch and
my legs were hanging for month until judge let me move back to my
apartment. They had cat and I was not able to see my dog or to bring
him into the apartment.
I have been living alone for past 3 years with my dog ,I celebrated New
Year and my birthday and all Holidays alone ,whole my family is back
home in Europe. I came here to be with Marko and now I am alone not
with him, not with my family made me think a lot about all the wrong
decisions that we both made..
I am hoping that I will have time to have kids with Marko and get
married to him. All that I ever wanted was to have family with him.
Many times I asked myself why it did not happen in the past, but God
knows that it was not a good time to have a child that will go through all
of this with us ..I was very young when we lost a baby and had
miscarriage and I accepted that it was not meant to be in that time but
until todays day it is my biggest dream to have kids with Marko.
Since day 1 of Marko’s arrest back in October 2020 I had no intentions
of leaving USA. The only thing that I wanted was to make things right
and live normal life after all.

  Case: 1:20-cr-00750 Document #: 220 Filed: 04/23/24 Page 4 of 4 PageID #:1200




Every day after that I have lived in fear that agents will knock on my
door any day and all that I wanted is for that to finally happen so I can
make things right ,return money that I have sent back home and to have
the opportunity to say to all of you and to my family from the bottom of
my heart that I feel deeply and honestly sorry for everything that I did.
After I have returned money that does not belong to me and I was
never supposed to send it back home I felt that I am again on the right
road in my life, even with bracelet on my leg and being locked in the
apartment for 24 hours with just my dog I finally had little of that peace
knowing that I did something right and that I am taking responsibility
and at least I could sleep calm .Even though I knew that there is a long
road in the front of me until I see Marko and my family again .It is not
life when I leave in fear .Taking government loans was wrong decision in
my life and sending money for Marko as well.
I am hoping that all of wrong decisions that I have made will not affect
my health and that very soon me and Marko will be able to finally have
a baby that we lost many years ago .I am hoping that after 10 years of
not seeing my family I will be able to hug them very soon and to see my
only grandmother that I have left before she goes to heaven.
If I could go back in time I would never take those loans that I was not
supposed to take, I would say no to Marko and I would never send
money to Serbia and I would never be part of this in any kind of way.
Unfortunately I can not take the time back, the only thing that I could
do to was to return the money that never belong to me and accept
responsibility for my actions .
Ultimately I would love to say thank you to You your Honor and the US
Attorney for allowing me to talk to Marko after all and to be able to
walk my dog every day. Once again I am deeply and honestly sorry to
everyone who had to work on this case because of me to US attorneys,
agents, probation officer, pretrial officers all of the judges who were on
this case.
Sincerely Milica Sumakovic

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