Man gets 30 years for murder

Prosecutors and defense attorneys arrived at Rolling Meadows courtroom 109 Wednesday prepared to argue pretrial motions in the murder case of the State of Illinois v. Antonio Pacheco.

They left with the 33-year-old man sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the death of his friend Alexis Roman in September 2007.

The plea followed a conference between Pacheco's attorneys, public defenders Larry Kugler and Calvin Aguilar; assistant state's attorneys Marilyn Hite-Ross and Mike Gerber and Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Fecarotta. During the conference - known as a Supreme Court Rule 402 Conference - a judge hears evidence he or she may not be allowed to hear during a trial. The judge then determines an appropriate sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. Attorneys discuss the plea and proposed sentence with their client, who may accept it or reject it and proceed to trial.

Kugler and Aguilar requested the conference at Pacheco's behest.

"Every client has the right to be fully informed of the options available to him," Aguilar said.

"The ultimate decision is always the client's," he said, "We can't steer him toward a plea or a trial."

According to prosecutors, Pacheco and Roman - both of them homeless - had been drinking behind a Hanover Park strip mall early on Sept. 6, 2007. After engaging in consensual sex, they had an argument during which Pacheco hit Roman in the head with a rock and stabbed him in the neck with a tree branch. Police initially interviewed Pacheco as a witness. But inconsistencies in his story led them to charge him with Roman's murder, a charge reinforced by the discovery of a backpack containing Pacheco's blood-soaked clothing and identification card.

In accepting the plea, Pacheco, who had no criminal background, received 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. A conviction would have carried a sentence of 20 to 60 years.

"I think this was a just sentence," Hite-Ross said. "We're satisfied with the agreement that was reached."

"For any human being, it's hard to plead guilty and realize they'll be locked up for 30 years of their life," Kugler said. "In the truest sense of the word, the ultimate decision is our client's.

"Mr. Pacheco made his decision."

Daily Herald staff writers Kimberly Pohl and Amie Shak contributed to this report.