4½ years prison for Aurora man charged with spying on ex-girlfriend with hidden cameras, secret GPS on car
An Aurora man arrested and charged with repeatedly breaking into his ex-girlfriend's apartment to install and retrieve hidden cameras and using a cellphone secretly attached to her car to track her movements began serving a 4½-year prison term Thursday.
Juan M. Ramos-Avila, 26, was arrested in February 2018 and charged with several felonies, including residential burglary, unauthorized recording, eavesdropping and unlawful use of an electronic tracking device, according to police and Kane County court records.
In late May, records show, Ramos-Avila pleaded guilty to one count of residential burglary, which was the most severe charge, in exchange for prosecutors dismissing four other counts each of residential burglary and unauthorized recording, two counts of eavesdropping and unlawful use of the tracking device, according to Kane County court records.
Residential burglary carries a prison term ranging from 4 to 15 years but also is eligible for probation.
Under the plea accepted by Kane County Judge David Kliment, Ramos-Avila's sentence was delayed until Thursday.
"He's taken responsibility for his actions," said defense attorney Victor Escarcida, of the Gil Law Group. "He's ready to move on and he's very remorseful for what occurred."
Ramos-Avila was arrested at 10 a.m. Feb. 15, 2018, after he entered the woman's apartment on the 1900 block of Lilac Lane, Aurora, carrying a backpack and wearing blue rubber gloves, according to police affidavit to secure a search warrant of Ramos-Avila's belongings.
The woman's boyfriend heard the front door open and saw Ramos-Avila come in, so he punched him, detained him and called authorities. The previous day, the woman had found an audio recording device taped inside her nightstand and a camera in the bedroom curtains with slits in the fabric, according to police.
Ramos-Avila admitted the woman broke up with him a year ago and that he researched ways to break into houses using "bump keys," which are keys cut in a special design that allows them to pick certain locks, police said.
Ramos-Avila first entered the woman's apartment in August 2017 and read letters written to her by her new love interest. He returned, hid a voice-activated audio recorder in her room and returned a day or two later to get it, but the bedroom's air conditioning unit made noise and the device's batteries had drained, according to the affidavit.
Ramos-Avila then put the recorder in the nightstand and a motion-activated camera in the curtains. The camera battery didn't last very long, so Ramos-Avila bought a second camera to exchange with it whenever he would return to the apartment, according to the affidavit.
He also told police he taped cellphones underneath the cars of the woman and her boyfriend and then activated the "find my phone" app to get a location. He would return in the middle of the night to change the phones, according to police.