Cary man takes plea in torture case

A Cary man charged in connection with the torture and beating of a man he believed had stolen his tools was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to a reduced robbery charge.

Andrew C. Shedivy, 22, admitted guilt to aggravated robbery as part of a plea bargain reached with McHenry County prosecutors, making him the third of four suspects in the case to land behind bars.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a more serious armed robbery charge that would have landed Shedivy in prison for a minimum of six years, as well as mob action and unlawful restraint charges.

The charges stemmed from a May 22 incident at Shedivy's home that left an 18-year-old Lakewood man battered, bruised, burned and permanently scarred.

Authorities say Shedivy lured the man to his home that night because he suspected the man had stolen tools, a scale, a small amount of cash and other items from him. When the 18-year-old arrived, prosecutors said today, Shedivy confronted him with a baseball bat, demanded the keys to his vehicle then removed items from it.

Shedivy's co-defendants, authorities say, then forced the teen into the home's basement where they beat him, burned him with a knife heated by a blow torch, locked him in a dog cage and made him lick stairs clean before allowing him to go free.

"It was obviously a barbaric, inhuman thing to do to someone," McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi said.

Shedivy did not plead guilty to participating in the torture or beating, and his defense lawyer called his client's actions a mistake.

"He was upset that someone had stolen from him and he overreacted pretty significantly," attorney Michael Froelich said.

Shedivy's plea leaves the case of just one co-defendant, Miko Gougis, 19, of Chicago, pending. Gougis is scheduled to go to trial May 14 on charges of aggravated battery, mob action, unlawful restraint and armed robbery.

Co-defendant Patrick Rehayem, 19, of Fox River Grove, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in February and was sentenced to two years in prison. Nicholas Sweeney, 24, of Woodstock, pleaded guilty to mob action in October and was sentenced to six months in the county jail.

Shedivy's plea deal Wednesday has no impact on pending charges alleging he and a roommate ran a hallucinogenic mushroom-growing operation out of their home.