Illegal alien gets 9 yrs. in DUI crash

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
April 19, 2011

Yesterday's paper carried a story about the nine-year sentence dished out by Judge Sharon Prather to Uri Herrera-Garcia, 24, an illegal alien convicted in a drunk-driving crash in which an 18-year-old man died in October 2009 in Lakemoor.

The story said that Herrera-Garcia "had been charged multiple times with driving without a valid driver's license and deported twice."

So it looks like there could be many stories written about this guy and our good, ol' court system in Illinois. If he was charged "multiple times" for no valid driver's license, was he convicted multiple times? What were the penalties assessed for those convictions? Any jail time?

But the biggie is his two previous deportations? What happened when he returned after the first deportation? Did he get some jail time before he was deported? And did law enforcement know he was back after the second deportation? And, if so, for how long did they know? And what did they do about it?

Supposedly he came back to the U.S. for his brother's funeral. When was that? After the first deportation? After the second?

What the story didn't say was that there are $10,184 in costs assessed in this case? Any chance of collection? Yeah, that's what I thought. How much do prisoners earn at Stateville? Nine years .... that's 3,285 days. At $4.00/day that'll get his debt paid off, IF the State of Illinois sends that money to McHenry County. But how few days will he actually have to serve?

When will residents of McHenry County insist on a crackdown on illegal drivers, DUIs and illegal aliens? Ever?

A separate case also wound up on Monday against Herrera-Garcia, when he was adjudged guilty of Felony 2 in Crystal Lake crimes apparently involving thefts from autos last July. Look at this! What is really going on in McHenry County???

Burglary (Felony 2) nolle prossed
Obstructing identification (he gave cops a fake name) nolle prossed
Theft (under $300) nolle prossed
Theft (under $300) nolle prossed
Theft (under $300) dismissed
Burglary (Felony 2) Conviction - Credit for time served (276 days); $528 fine, costs, fees; one-year conditional discharge (no special conditions).

What about an immigration hold? Why a "conditional discharge"?

Sure, he's going away from McHenry County for a while. What minimum prison sentence must he serve for causing the 18-year-old's death in the DUI crash?

Oh, by the way, he wasn't the deceased 18-year-old's "killer", as the newspaper article labeled him, unless Herrera-Garcia deliberately drove off the roadway and into the tree to cause the 18-year-old's death.