"My whole life has been stressed out," Cegur told Windy City Times. His journey began while he was staying at a Joliet Super 8 motel, using his room to make an experimental film. After a few days, hotel employees came to his door demanding that he clean his room and pay his $160 bill. With $20 in his wallet and a credit card that wouldn't swipe, Cegur set out to find an ATM that would take his card. When he returned to the hotel several hours later with cash in hand, however, the police were waiting for him.
He was hauled away, forced to leave his camera equipment, props and car behind. According to Joliet police Lt. Dennis Goron, Cegur was charged with felony criminal damage to property in connection with a reported $1,000 in damage that was done to his hotel room during the time he was there. Goron said there was damage to the bathroom fixtures, furniture and walls, including spray painting.
Cegur admits to altering the room, but says he intended to clean up after finishing his film, something he wasn't given the chance to do. He was taken into custody Sept. 7, and he said officers "were totally abusive to me and a little anti-gay."
He immediately asked about his AIDS drugs, he said, and was told he'd get them and be checked out by a jail physician. He eventually went to the medical unit, and the doctor assured him that he'd get his meds and be given double meals to counter his weight loss. Cegur also contacted his elderly parents in Hammond, Ind., asking them to bring his medication to the jail. The first time his father and aunt made the hour and a half trip, however, they were turned away by jail officials who told them that Cegur hadn't notified them that he was having visitors, said Shirley Cegur, Michael's mother.
It was a policy she said jail officials had never mentioned, even when she called beforehand to find out about visiting hours. The second time they came, officials wouldn't accept the medication, despite a jail nurse's assurances that his parents should bring them.
"We were given quite a bit of misinformation," Cegur's mother said, adding that her son also never received any of the money for food and amenities that her husband left for him in a jail account. She also claimed that Michael wasn't released right away after they posted his bond money, but was held for three extra days for processing.
Citing a confidentiality clause, Will County Detention Facility Deputy Chief David Simpson wouldn't comment specifically on Cegur's case, even after Cegur waived his right to confidentiality for this article. Simpson would only verify that under jail policy, officers are supposed to continue HIV-positive inmates' medical regimen if they tell officials of their status. He expressed surprise that Cegur was willing to go public with his HIV status "because people assume things" about people living with the virus.
Sharing his story is important to Cegur, he said, because people should know that things like his situation are happening. He is currently living with his parents in Indiana and trying to regain his strength and prepare for the legal battle before him.
"I need some sharks in my life," he said.