6-month sentence for driver in fatal crash

An Elgin teen who was behind the wheel in a Jan. 12, 2007, drunken driving crash that killed a friend was sentenced Thursday to six months in the Kane County jail and four years of probation.

Brian Poliarny, 19, also was ordered to attend a "victim impact panel," take part in random drug and alcohol tests, and submit to 90 days of electronic monitoring after his release from jail.

Poliarny's family shed tears of relief as Judge Grant Wegner told the defendant he would avoid being locked up in a state prison. Sitting at the opposite end of the same courtroom bench, the parents of Roman Pokorny, who died when Poliarny drove into a brick wall, stared sullenly at the floor and comforted each other.

"I don't know that any justice was served, but I can't do anything about it," said the victim's father, also named Roman, after the sentencing. "Unfortunately, you're probably going to see (Poliarny) again when someone else gets hurt."

Poliarny was drunk and had marijuana in his system about 4:30 a.m. Jan. 12 when he drove his 1994 Mazda Protegee through a T intersection and slammed into a brick wall at the Haeger Pottery in East Dundee. The crash seriously injured Toni Syzmanowski, who rode in the back seat, and killed Pokorny, 16, a junior at Dundee-Crown High School.

Poliarny, also a Dundee-Crown student, was acquitted of first-degree murder in August but pleaded guilty to two aggravated driving under the influence charges carrying sentences of up to 14 and 12 years in prison.

On Thursday, he told Wegner that, should he avoid prison, his former stepfather had arranged a job for him with a Harwood Heights graphics company, and he planned to live in Arlington Heights. Poliarny said he was willing to "get any help necessary" for drug and alcohol abuse problems, adding that because of the crash, "I've been taught a lot."

"I want to clean up my life," Poliarny told the judge.

Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Greg Sams argued that Poliarny's history of alcohol and drug abuse -- including a 2005 arrest at school for marijuana possession and tests showing he has used marijuana since the crash -- suggests he is likely to offend again.

"We need to send a message that people who drive under the influence … will be dealt with harshly," Sams said. "If we don't do this, Judge, the problem is never going to be solved."

Wegner told Poliarny "it would be very easy for me to sentence you to the Department of Corrections." But the defendant's lack of an extended criminal history, his age, and the fact he accepted responsibility and expressed remorse for the crash factored into the jail term and a maximum probation term.

The judge said Poliarny would be given credit for time served in jail sporadically since the crash; he must serve at least 90 days of his 180-day jail sentence. Poliarny also must refrain from using drugs and alcohol, meet curfews, seek full-time employment, and undergo psychiatric evaluation.

"Mr. Poliarny, this is your chance," the judge warned. "You don't get any more chances, and I hope you recognize that."