25 years for Naperville liquor store robbery
A longtime felon whom prosecutors described as a "one-man crime tsunami" was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a Naperville liquor store stickup.
Buddy Stone received the near-maximum term for an April 10, 2009, armed robbery that led to a police chase through several towns.
The 42-year-old Chicago man still faces federal charges for two Oak Park bank robberies. Stone, who said an addiction to alcohol and drugs fueled his illegal behavior, served stints in prison nine other times for armed robbery, drug possession, aggravated batteries and vehicular hijacking.
"I don't really have a choice," DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell said. "You worked up to this. You have a problem and, for all the time you spent in the department of corrections, you never sought help."
On Jan. 27, a DuPage County jury took just 24 minutes to convict Stone of robbing Extra Value Liquors, 1550 N. Route 59, in Naperville. A clerk testified Stone stuck a loaded gun in his face before fleeing with $1,278 from the cash register and bottles of Courvoisier and Hennessy cognac.
A few customers were in the store, but no one was injured. Stone maintained during the trial that he was unaware his friend was going to rob the store, but the clerk identified Stone as the gunman.
The other defendant, Gregory King, 47, of Bellwood, received a six-month stint in jail and was placed on 30 months' probation after he agreed to cooperate with authorities. He did not have a violent past.
"I need help," Stone said of his addictions. "I'm not using it as an excuse. I have a problem. Drugs were a whole different world I didn't understand at the time."
Stone is eligible for parole after serving half the prison term, but he still faces prosecution in the federal bank heist cases.
Stone could have been sentenced to six to 30 years in prison for the liquor store holdup. Brian Jacobs, a senior DuPage County assistant public defender, sought a prison term that included substance abuse treatment so Stone could be rehabilitated.
The defendant's sister testified he has family support.
Prosecutor Steven Knight said Stone squandered several chances. Knight argued society needs to be protected from Stone, whom Knight called a "one-man crime tsunami."
"How many times can this defendant be allowed to subject totally innocent people to high-speed chases, loaded guns and aggravated batteries?" Knight said. "He needs to be locked up, not only for punishment, but to protect society. He deserves the maximum."