Couple admit stealing Elgin woman's jewelry
A DeKalb couple charged in April with stealing jewelry from an Elgin woman's apartment pleaded guilty to the charges Monday.
Corina Mendenhall, 39, who has three convictions for retail theft and one for residential burglary, was sentenced to six years in exchange for her guilty plea to residential burglary, according to court records.
Juan Juarez, 27, who has two misdemeanor convictions, was sentenced to two years in exchange for his guilty plea to theft.
Both defendants received credit for 78 days in custody.
Prosecutors say the couple stole $5,000 worth of jewelry from the woman who lived in a building where Mendenhall and Juarez were visiting.
The victim left her home overnight and returned to find her bedroom in disarray and her jewelry missing. Police recovered some of the jewelry from a bedroom in the basement apartment where Mendenhall and Juarez were staying as guests of that apartment's tenant. They also recovered missing jewelry from Juarez's pocket, prosecutors said.
Both defendants were fined $694, court records show.