Probation, jail for Elburn man in fatal crash

An Elburn man who killed a distant relative in a drunken-driving crash will spend his free time behind bars for the next year, a Kane County judge ruled Friday.

Earl G. Wilkison, 59, was sentenced to 12 months in a program that requires him to be in jail when he isn't at work, as well as four years of probation and 600 hours of community service. He also must refrain from consuming alcohol and attend a victim-impact panel, Judge Allen M. Anderson ruled.

Wilkison pleaded guilty in January to charges including reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence stemming from an Oct. 11, 2008, crash that killed his nephew's brother-in-law, 24-year-old Ryan Campbell of Burlington.

The local business owner offered a tearful apology Friday before learning whether he would be sent to prison.

"I really can't say I'm sorry enough," he said, turning to address members of Campbell's family seated in a crowded courtroom. "If I could trade my life with Ryan's, I would."

Prosecutor Adam Katz asked Anderson to put Wilkison in prison for at least five years, but the judge ruled that "extraordinary circumstances," including Wilkison's clean record, health issues and his contributions to the community, required him to choose probation and jail time.

Any inconvenience Wilkison experiences as a result should serve as a constant reminder of the pain he brought to Campbell's family, Anderson told him.

"Too often the terms of probation are seen as a slap on the wrist or a pass," the judge said. "I do not see it like this."

Campbell, a mechanic who enjoyed fishing and country music, was thrown from his pickup truck when he was broadsided by Wilkison's sport utility vehicle at 1:40 a.m., after Wilkison ran a stop sign at Route 47 and Berth Road in Campton Township. Wilkison later registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.095.

On Friday, Campbell's parents and siblings took the stand to describe the pain they have endured since the tragedy, and the divide it left between two families connected by marriage.

"Ryan had a heart of gold, touching many people and helping anyone he could," Campbell's father, Richard, testified. "There were so many things we used to do together that now we can't do."

Also taking the stand were numerous character witnesses who testified about Wilkison's community efforts, from donations on behalf of his water-purification company to his volunteer work at an orphanage and church mission in Mexico.

"I've always described him as a good soul," said Geneva Police Sgt. Tim Baker, who said Wilkison was proactive in his son's life when Baker was a liaison officer at Geneva High School.

Wilkison, of the 1100 block of Walker Court, will be put on electronic home monitoring until the conditions of the work-release program can be set at a hearing scheduled for next month.