Elgin Mental Health Center escapee gets 6 years
A Chicago man has been sentenced to six years in prison for escaping from an Elgin Mental Health Center van taking him to a court proceeding in Lake County in July 2014, sparking an eight-hour manhunt.
Jesse A. Vega, 39, of the 5800 block of Higgins Road, must serve this sentence after he finishes serving a 25-year sentence for severely beating his girlfriend in September 2013 in the parking lot of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. The woman had a broken skull and swelling on her brain.
According to Lake County court records, a jury convicted Vega of felony aggravated domestic battery in July 2015, and he was sentenced in November to 25 years in prison for the 2013 attack.
Vega is appealing the conviction, records show.
Vega was being transported from the Elgin Mental Health Center to court in Lake County when he jumped out of a van.
He faced between three and seven years in prison after pleading guilty to escaping from a penal institution, a felony.
Kane County Judge John Barsanti accepted Vega's guilty plea in mid-December, according to Kane County court records.
Records show that even though Vega was initially deemed fit to stand trial after taking numerous medications, he pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the escape charges.
This plea means Vega will have increased access to mental health services while in prison.
Vega's brief escape prompted Springfield lawmakers to pass legislation allowing state officials to share confidential mental health information with police in the event of an escape.