Geneva man sentenced in St. Charles fight

Saying the sanctity of a home is something that can't be violated, a judge Thursday sentenced a 24-year-old Geneva man to eight years for his role in a melee in a St. Charles apartment in August 2005.

"The sanctity of these victims' home was violently interrupted," said Kane County Judge William Weir before imposing the sentence on Sean Zeleny, along with a recommendation for intensive alcohol treatment.

"The court does not condone that. The community does not condone that."

Following a three-day trial in August, Zeleny, of 430 Brittany Court, was convicted of home invasion, a felony that carries six to 30 years in prison.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that a drunken Zeleny and two other men went to an apartment on the 200 block of 15th Street at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 25 seeking revenge for a friend who died a few days earlier of a heroin overdose. Once there, they had a brief conversation with a man who answered the door. When the man tried to close it, they forced it open and began punching and kicking three other men inside. A woman in the apartment identified Zeleny.

Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman asked Weir for a 10-year sentence. Engerman noted Zeleny's long juvenile and adult criminal record of drug possession, alcohol consumption, and failing to comply with substance abuse evaluations.

While free on bond awaiting trial, a drunken Zeleny scared a St. Charles family when he wandered into their home and passed out on a couch, and he also was arrested for battery in an Elgin bar, although the charges were later dropped, according to testimony and court records.

"It demonstrates a total disregard for the laws of the state and the rules set forth by this court," Engerman said.

Defense attorney Kathleen Colton argued during the trial that Zeleny and his friends merely went to the apartment to talk before things got out of control. She said Zeleny, who took the stand in his own defense, was guilty of nothing more than battery.

Thursday, Zeleny apologized for what he did and promised to change. "I know what's led me to this and I do plan to change," he said.

Colton asked for the minimum sentence of six years. She noted that a co-defendant and heroin addict, Sean Kinney, cut a deal with prosecutors to testify against Zeleny and received a six-month term and drug treatment.

Zeleny's mother, father and older brother also said he was a good person who changed once he drank. They said he could be rehabilitated.

"The alcohol definitely affects him in the wrong way. When it gets in him, he turns into a bad kind of Sean," testified Matthew Zeleny. "He's my only brother, and I hate to lose him that long. He's made mistakes."

Zeleny will spend a little less than four years behind bars because he is eligible for day-for-day credit and already spent about three months in the Kane County jail.