Gang member gets 14 years for Glen Ellyn home invasion
A reputed street gang member was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison for his role in a 2009 home invasion and shooting of two people in Glen Ellyn.
Alejandro Roman, 19, was one of three masked men who broke into a home on the 800 block of Busch Road shortly before 2 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009, and demanded drugs and money from a couple watching television.
After the couple was bound with duct tape on the first floor of the home, Roman started searching for drugs, prosecutors said. When he tried to get into one of the upstairs bedrooms, the homeowner inside the bedroom got a gun and started firing through the door, striking Roman.
That’s when one of Roman’s accomplices opened fire downstairs, striking a 20-year-old woman in the face just below the eye and a 23-year-old man four times. The man suffered bullet wounds to the face and arm. Both victims survived.
Roman was arrested after seeking treatment at a hospital. He later led investigators to co-defendant James Kral, who lived near Glen Ellyn. The third suspect has not been apprehended.
Moments before being sentenced Wednesday by DuPage County Judge George Bakalis, Roman read from a prepared statement and apologized to the court, his family and the victims. “I take full responsibility for my actions,” the Chicago man said.
Defense attorney Anthony Burch, who sought a sentence of six to eight years, said the case was about drugs and drug abuse. He said Roman went with the two other men on that night to rob “a drug house.”
“That’s what happens in drug houses,” Burch said in court.
Burch said Roman has since spent his time in jail trying to better himself, including studying to earn a GED certificate.
“Give him the mercy he should have had on that night,” Burch told Bakalis. “We’re asking that he have the opportunity to become a better person.”
Bakalis said the many factors he took into account while determining the sentence include that Roman was 17 years old at the time of the crime and didn’t fire the weapon. Still, the judge said, the seriousness of the crime takes prominence.
“You have to be responsible for what your cohorts did in this case,” Bakalis said.
Kral, who authorities believe was the trigger man, last year pleaded guilty to attempted murder and home invasion in a deal capping his sentence at 60 years when he was eligible for 90. According to court records, the 22-year-old now is seeking to withdraw the plea.
Roman, who turns 20 this month, last month pleaded guilty to one count of home invasion and faced up to 30 years in prison.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin said in a statement that Roman “violated the safety of the home.” “For his participation in that night of terror,” Berlin said, “Alejandro Roman will now spend the next 14 years of his life behind bars.”