Elgin man gets 10 years in prison for fifth DUI

An Elgin man is going back to prison after pleading guilty to his fifth DUI, the Kane County state's attorney's office announced Tuesday.

Gregory Echols, 45, of the 400 block of Hendee Street, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a $25,000 fine and 25 days of community service in a program that supports children, as part of a plea deal in which he admitted to aggravated driving under the influence.

Echols received credit for 157 days spent in the Kane County jail on $25,000 bail while the case was pending. Associate Judge Patricia P. Golden accepted the plea.

The felony charge was filed after a Feb. 28 traffic stop in Elgin in which Echols registered a blood-alcohol level of .124, admitted to drinking alcohol and failed field sobriety tests, prosecutors said.

A 15-year-old child was riding next to him in the front seat of his Lincoln Continental at the time of the stop, prosecutors said.

Echols' driver's license had been revoked previously, prosecutors said, and he was on parole for a 2007 DUI conviction out of DuPage County.

The state's attorney's office said Echols had three previous DUI convictions in Kane County, two of them in 2005 and the third in 2003.

His driving record also includes at least 14 citations since 1992 for driving on a suspended or revoked license, prosecutors said.