9½ years for Elgin armed robbery

A Chicago man looking for some quick cash by robbing a man in Elgin who’d just been paid was sentenced to 9½ years in prison Monday.

Andres Oquendo, 25, of the 4300 block of West Shakespeare Avenue, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery, a felony that carries a maximum prison term of 15 years.

Kane County Judge Timothy Sheldon accepted the plea and sentence. Oquendo is elibigle for time off his sentence for good behavior.

Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney David Belshan said Oquendo learned from his girlfriend, who lived in Elgin, that the victim was going to get paid. On the night of April 7, 2010, Oquendo robbed the man with a .45-caliber Colt Commander in the 600 block of Slade Avenue on the city’s east side.

“(The victim) basically threw his wallet on the ground and the defendant took money from it,” Belshan said. “(The gun) was not loaded, actually.”

Belshan said the victim wrote down the license plate on the Jeep Liberty that Oquendo escaped in and Oquendo was later arrested and admitted to police what he did.

Court documents said Oquendo robbed the victim of $395. The victim was not hurt and no shots were fired.

If the case went to trial and Oquendo was convicted, he could have faced a minimum of 21 years in prison. He initially was charged with armed robbery, a felony that carries a six- to 30-year sentence without the possibility of probation, with a 15-year mandatory add-on because the crime was committed with a handgun.

Oquendo will get credit for 356 days served in the Kane County jail since his arrest.