Aurora man sentenced to 30 years for 2009 murder

A 25-year-old Aurora man Monday pleaded guilty to a 2009 murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Jose R. Sosa, formerly of the 300 block of Oakwood Avenue, is the fourth man to plead guilty in the shooting death of Donald Franklin, 38. Other defendants received sentences between 20 and 30 years in prison after pleading guilty, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Sosa and another man, Victor Aguilar, 25, of Aurora, gave a handgun to two men who were trying to become members of a street gang. Sosa and the three men drove around town looking for someone to shoot the night of June 24, 2009, when they saw five people on a porch on the 200 block of North Kendall Street.

Sosa drove around the back and instructed Jesus Bucio, 20, of Aurora, and Christopher Contreras, 20, of Aurora, to creep up on the house. They did, opened fire and killed Franklin, prosecutors said.

Contreras and Bucio both pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and each received 30-year sentences. Aguilar was sentenced to 20 years after pleading guilty.

Judge Susan Clancy Boles accepted the guilty plea from Sosa, who must serve 100 percent of the sentence. He gets credit for nearly two years and eight months served at the Kane County jail while being held on $5 million bail while the case was pending.

“The murder of Donald Franklin was tragic and senseless,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. “As long as young people pursue gang membership, we will have defendants to prosecute for murders and other violent crimes. It’s as predictable as the sunset, until young people realize that gang membership ends with a prison sentence or an early death.”