Aurora man gets 7th DUI

A 59-year-old man made Kane County history Friday when he was convicted of a Class X felony for his seventh drunken-driving arrest.

James Clark of Aurora faces six to 30 years behind bars -- the same as killers, rapists and robbers -- after becoming the first in the county to be convicted of aggravated drunken driving following a state law change that allows stiffer punishments for repeat DUI offenders.

After announcing the verdict, Judge Allen M. Anderson reluctantly agreed to give Clark one week to get his personal affairs in order before revoking his bond and taking him into custody. Sentencing is scheduled for March 20.

Clark had been convicted of drunken driving six times between 1980 and his latest DUI arrest in early 2006 in Aurora.

He was the first person prosecuted in Kane County under a law, which went into effect that year, making those convicted of driving while intoxicated six times eligible for sentences typically handed out for murder, rape and robbery.

The state's first case, prosecuted in DuPage County in 2006, resulted in a six-year sentence.