Elgin man sent to prison for TV theft

A 29-year-old Elgin man will have plenty of time to watch TV in prison after being sentenced to 5½ years behind bars for stealing one.

It took a jury less than an hour in August toconvictSomphongN. Vongsaly of breaking into a St. Charles Townshiphome on Route 31and stealing a 36-inch television valued at $1,200.

He faced four to 15 years in prison, and Judge Grant Wegner said Friday the minimum sentence was not appropriate considering Vongsaly's criminal history, which included burglary and theft.

Vongsaly has two DUI arrests, and attempted burglary and theft charges from Kane County and Glen Ellyn, along with convictions for theft and forgery in California from the 1990s.

Police said Vongsaly was driving north on Route 31 on Oct. 24, 2006, when he was stopped by a state trooperjust south of Route 20 on a suspected traffic violation.

Police noted the Toshiba television in the trunk, and 40 minutes after the stop, a St. Charles Township resident called 911 to report a burglary.

A South Elgin police officer who assisted with the traffic stop later learned about the burglary in the paper and called sheriff's deputies to tell them of the arrest of a person within the same timeframe of the burglary. The victim eventually was shown the television, identified it as his, and Vongsaly was charged.

At Friday's sentencing, Vongsaly still claimed his innocence. "It's unfortunate that their house was burglarized, but I'm not the one who broke into that home," he said. "I happened to be in the middle of it. That's all I have to say."

Vongsaly will spend a little more than two years in prison. He receives credit for nearly a year in the Kane County jail since his arrest, and he is eligible for day-per-day credit while behind bars.