25 years for fatal DUI

An Indiana couple who lost two children in a fiery 2005 drunk driving collision spun the unspeakable tragedy into a lesson in forgiveness Tuesday -- at one point telling the man who did it that God doesn't love him any less than he loved their children.

But their compassion didn't spare Ralph Pollock a lengthy prison term. The 48-year-old Schaumburg man, who had a blood-alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit when his pickup truck slammed into the family's minivan, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday.

Pollock pleaded guilty to 10 counts of aggravated DUI in June, nearly a year after the July 2005 crash near a remote O'Hare parking lot took the lives of Nathan Hockerman, 5, and his sister Claire, 14.

In a statement read by their father on the witness stand, Greg Hockerman told of his kids' love for music -- the family often sang together before bedtime -- and the "unspeakably dark days" that followed the tragedy.

He also addressed Pollock directly, taking a deep breath before looking over at the man in the prison jumpsuit.

"Despite all your actions have brought upon my family, I have come to the point where, in my heart, I have forgiven you," he told Pollock, who blinked away tears.

Hockerman's wife, Sherry, expressed a similar attitude.

"We understand that Ralph Pollock did not get out of bed that day and consciously decide to kill two kids," Sherry Hockerman told the judge. "Our faith, and our God, tell us to forgive as we have been forgiven, and we are committed to that process but unsure of what it looks like."

Something she is sure of, she added, is that forgiveness won't wash away the pain.

The Hockerman family --Greg, Sherry, Nathan, Claire and 11-year-old brother Paul -- had just retrieved their minivan after a trip to Europe when Pollock, already a convicted drunken driver, ran a red light at Waveland and Mannheim roads in Franklin Park, prosecutors said. Greg Hockerman, who was behind the wheel, was in the intersection trying to make a left turn.

Sherry Hockerman had just passed out crackers to hungry members of her family, she recalled Tuesday. Pollock, driving a pickup truck, had a bottle of vodka with him.

The impact triggered an explosion and a blaze that consumed the minivan in mere moments as Greg and Sherry Hockerman fought in vain to free their children.

Only Paul made it out alive, pulled to safety by a stranger driving behind the family.

The three surviving family members all were burned in the wreck; Greg Hockerman's injuries were the most extensive, requiring skin grafts and physical therapy.

The family spoke Tuesday of wounds that will take longer to heal -- silence in a home once so full of chatter, depression, guilt over being loaded onto an ambulance and leaving their children behind in the burning car.

They also talked about the children they lost: Nathan, who'd eagerly awaited riding the school bus to kindergarten with his older siblings, and Claire, an oboist and pianist who'd eagerly planned her 14th birthday party.

"I do have days where I wonder if I have forgiven," Greg Hockerman admitted, "but I think, by and large, that issue is settled in my heart."

Pollock, a father of three boys -- all of whom were in court Tuesday -- had been busted for DUI twice before, in 1985 and 1998. He also had a 2004 speeding conviction.

But friends and family, who penned nearly 40 letters to Cook County Judge Lawrence Terrell on Pollock's behalf, depicted him as a devoted father, dedicated U.S. Postal Service employee and remorseful prisoner who acknowledged what he'd done.

He'd lost a son himself, they said; he also had coached baseball and was involved as a member of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington.

Pollock also spoke, offering the Hockermans an apology.

"I am so very, very sorry for the pain and grief I caused you," he told them. "There is no excuse for me drinking and driving. … I shouldn't have been behind the wheel."

The courtroom testimony brought many to tears, including the court reporter.

In handing down the sentence, Terrell said he could not ignore the fact that kids were killed, and said Illinois "does not, and will not, tolerate drinking and driving."

Pollock had faced between six and 28 years in prison. He was sentenced to 25 years for four of the DUI counts and three years, to be served concurrently, for the other six.

The Hockermans said the 25-year sentence will give Pollock time to reflect on his crime and work through his alcoholism, and ideally ensure that he won't do it again.