Once on McHenry Co. 'Ten Most Wanted' list, man sent to prison

A few months after fleeing the region to avoid numerous felony charges and ending up on McHenry County's Ten Most Wanted list, Brian Horne is leaving the area again.

This time, though, authorities will know exactly where to find the Island Lake man.

Horne, 37, was sentenced Thursday to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after he admitted to residential burglary and two drug charges stemming from a trio of 2007 arrests.

In return for the guilty plea, McHenry County prosecutors agreed to dismiss several other pending felony and misdemeanor cases against Horne, including the unlawful restraint and domestic battery allegations in February that came shortly before he left the area.

The burglary charge stemmed from a Nov. 11, 2007, incident in which, prosecutors said, Horne asked a second man to drive him to a Crystal Lake home he claimed was his girlfriend's. Horne entered the home while the driver waited outside; Horne returned with a television, coins and lockbox, Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein said. The driver later learned that the home did not belong to Horne's girlfriend.

Horne also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of cocaine and unlawful possession of a look-alike substance, stemming from separate arrests in July and August 2007.

The first arrest, prosecutors said, occurred after witnesses at a Lakemoor bar reported that Horne entered the establishment with a handgun and then, after being kicked out, called the business and threatened to harm its occupants. Police never found a gun, but did find cocaine in Horne's possession, authorities said.

In May, members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Horne in Milledgeville, Ga., after McHenry County Sheriff's investigators received a tip on his whereabouts.