Man sentenced to 18 years for knife attack

A downstate Manteno man who slashed the throat of a friend during a fight last year in Grayslake pleaded guilty to attempted murder Tuesday.

Henry Bostic, 42, was sentenced to 18 years in prison following the plea.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Bolling Haxall said Bostic was visiting his friend, who now lives in Georgia, and the two men were playing cards March 11, 2007.

An argument broke out and Bostic pushed the 39-year-old victim against a wall, took out a knife and slashed the man's throat.

The victim survived the attack, Haxall said, but needed repeated surgeries to close the wound.

At the time of the attack, Bostic had been on parole for less than a year from a 1996 conviction for armed violence in LaSalle County.

Haxall said Bostic will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence, and will not be eligible for parole until 2022.

A charge of armed violence was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea to attempted murder.