Burglar with long record gets 10 years

Swiping a purse, CD holder and a change container from a car in Elgin last fall netted a Streamwood man a 10-year prison sentence Wednesday.

Gilbert R. Chadwick, 35, of the first block of Adams Court was sentenced by Kane County Judge Timothy Sheldon for the crime after a May bench trial.

While it's the not cliched "3 Strikes" law from California, the stiffer sentence resulted from Chadwick's record.

First Assistant State's Attorney Clint Hull said the sentencing guidelines increase from six to 30 years if a defendant in Illinois is convicted of three Class 2 or higher felonies in a 10-year span.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Chadwick's rap sheet includes sentences of: four years for four counts of residential burglary in Lake County in 1992; 5½ years for robbery in Lake County in 1993; five years for forgery in Lake County in 1997; six years for burglary in Cook County in 2000 and four years for robbery in Lake County in 2004.

Had Chadwick's record been clean, he would have faced three to seven years in prison for the Nov. 30, 2006, car burglary.

But Sheldon noted Chadwick's two prior felony convictions and issued more than the minimum, which is what prosecutors requested.

"We're pleased with Judge Sheldon's sentence," Hull said.

Chadwick is eligible for day-for-day credit on the 10-year sentence, along with credit for the past 284 days served in the Kane County jail, meaning he could be free in about 4 years, 10 months.

On Nov. 30, Chadwick stopped his car at a home on the 400 block of Oak Street in Elgin. He got out of his car and entered a car parked in the driveway and removed the items. But a witness saw Chadwick with the items and wrote down his license plate number. He was stopped by Elgin police about two hours later and arrested.