Joliet City Councilman Juan Moreno took the stand in his own defense Monday in a hearing meant to determine if he is eliglible to hold his office.

While no decision was reached Monday, Moreno testified along with his fiancée Jessica Sanchez, and his reported former landlord Lisette Aguilera.

In his testimony, Moreno, who is accused of not living within the city limits of Joliet for the necessary one year before his election in 2025, reaffirmed his account that he had been living in the city of Joliet since Dec. 1, 2022 in a rented room at the home of Aguilera – who is in a relationship with Sanchez’s bother – and not in the home he owned with Sanchez at 819 Baskin Drive, which has a Joliet address but does not lie within the voting boundaries of the city.

Aguilera’s home is located at 3916 Jonathan Simpson Drive, which is within the city limits.

According to Moreno’s testimony, he and Sanchez, who have been romantically involved since high school and share four children, were having a rough patch in their relationship in 2022, which resulted in Sanchez asking him to move out so they could have space while they worked on their relationship.

During this time, Moreno said he continued to pay the mortgage on the property as well as the utility bills and money to support he children, the youngest of whom was born around the time he moved out.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Pyles alleged that Moreno had fabricated the story about having lived rent-free with Aguilera to establish residency, and had in fact remained at the Baskin Drive home the entire time.

Moreno and Sanchez in testimony both claimed that while Moreno was not working he did spend significant time at the home in order to help with the children. They testified he would occasionally spend the night, with the overnight stays becoming more common in 2024 as the couple reconciled.

Moreno and Sanchez said they have since sold the Baskin property and are currently renting another house together with “more space” on Forest View Drive in Joliet.

Several of Pyles’ lines of questioning were objected to and shut down by Will County Judge Jennifer Lynch, including the supposition that the couple couldn’t have been having relationship troubles in 2022 because their daughter was born late that year.

Pyles also repeatedly questioned Sanchez’s work history listed on social media which claimed she had worked for Moreno’s trucking business during 2022. The business was also registered at the Baskin address, where Moreno had been living when he created the corporation.

Moreno and Sanchez testified the dates on the employment history may have been inaccurate, as the city councilman said he shut down the business in late 2022, though some government records had dates going into early 2023.

Pyles referenced voting records from the March 2024 primary election and the November 2024 general election.

Pyles said Will County voting records show Moreno voted at the precinct associated with the Baskin Drive address in March 2024, while in November 2024 he voted at the precinct associated with the Jonathan Simpson Drive address, this after changing his voter registration and driver’s license in August 2024, around the same time he said he decided to run for city council.

No City of Joliet elections were held in 2024, and Moreno testified he had “never thought it was a big deal” to change the address for voting purposes when he moved.

Testimony continued for six hours, before the court decided to extend the hearing until Tuesday at 10 a.m. for closing arguments and a decision.

In order to maintain his seat on the city council, a decision must go in his favor at the hearing.

If his motion for summary judgement is granted, Moreno will still need to pay a fine of over $21,000 to the Illinois State Board of Elections for a failure to file timely notice of large contributions to his campaign from his employer, Austin Tyler Construction, if he wants to seek reelection.