Elburn man pleads guilty to St. Charles home invasion

An Elburn man pleaded guilty Thursday to a December 2010 invasion of the home of his ex-girlfriend in St. Charles.

In exchange, charges of attempted murder, domestic battery causing great bodily harm and unlawful restraint were dropped.

Kane County Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon sentenced Mario Bocanegra, 30, to 7½ years in prison. He was given credit for the 219 days he has spent in the Kane County jail since turning himself in to police in January.

On Dec. 17, St. Charles police were called to a report of a man trying to force his way through a patio door into an apartment on the 100 block of North 13th Avenue. The first responding officer heard a woman and a child screaming. Police say Bocanegra threatened to kill his former girlfriend, threw her to the ground, hit her with his fists and slammed her head into the floor, all in the presence of her 2-year-old son. He ran off as police arrived.

At the time, he was free on bond on a Bartlett case in DuPage County courts where he was charged with domestic battery with great bodily harm to the same victim, according to court records. He was due to appear in DuPage court Friday.

In 2009, Bocanegra pleaded guilty to felony theft and damage to property, accused of damaging a laptop computer. He was given credit for 22 days in jail and sentenced to two years’ probation, 50 hours of community service and anger management counseling. He was also ordered to have no contact with two men and one woman — the same woman who was the victim of the home invasion.

In July 2010, prosecutors pushed to revoke his probation because he had failed a drug test and admitted to smoking pot. He was sentenced to six more days in jail.