Antioch Twp. man resentenced to 8 years for fatal crash
An Antioch Township man who violated a previous periodic imprisonment sentence he received for his role in the illegal street race that killed an Antioch High School student was resentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday.
Jeremy Betancourt, 19, is forced to serve 85 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for parole, Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Kalcheim Rothenberg said. Judge Victoria Rossetti issued the sentence during a hearing in Lake County court.
Betancourt received credit for 533 days he has already served in Lake County jail.
Betancourt was facing three to 14 years in prison for violating parole on an aggravated driving under the influence of drugs charge from a 2013 crash that killed 16-year-old Cynthia Perez of Antioch.
He was originally sentenced to 30 months in periodic imprisonment by Rossetti in June 2014 for pleading guilty to charges he had marijuana in his system during the illegal street race with another vehicle.
Police determined Betancourt was traveling at 77 mph to 87 mph during the race on Route 120 in Gurnee when he lost control of his vehicle and it flipped in the median. Perez, a back-seat passenger in Betancourt's car, was ejected from the vehicle when it rolled. She died at the scene.
As part of the periodic imprisonment sentence for the fatal crash, Betancourt agreed to follow the rules imposed at the correction center where he was serving his sentence. However, Rothenberg filed a motion in April to revoke that probation because Betancourt routinely violated the rules of periodic imprisonment.
According to court records, Betancourt violated correction center rules on at least eight occasions, including being absent without proper authorization and trying to bring a cellphone and cigarettes into the center.
Betancourt was ordered to appear in court April 29 for the motion, but he never arrived. Officers picked up Betancourt in Chicago six days later.
Betancourt also pleaded guilty to a charge of escape that prosecutors filed against him for not returning to jail in April. He was sentenced to time served plus one day on that charge.