Guilty plea in Elgin man's shooting death

A Montgomery man pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder in the 1997 shooting death of an Elgin teenager.

Roel L. Soto, 37, entered the plea in exchange for a 15-year prison sentence under the terms of a plea bargain accepted by Kane County Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon.

Prosecutors said Soto drove the vehicle from which 19-year-old Michael O'Gara of Elgin was shot on the afternoon of Jan. 30, 1997, in Aurora. The incident was gang-related, according to the Kane County state's attorney's office.

By statute, Soto must complete at least 50 percent of the prison sentence. He was credited for 627 days served in the county jail.

Soto was one of more than 20 men indicted two years ago after a multiagency cold-case investigation known as "Operation First-Degree Burn."