24 years for Carpentersville home invasion, kidnapping

Both men who broke into a Carpentersville home in February 2010 and took a 5-year-old hostage in order to get a terrified couple’s ATM code will spend nearly 21 years in prison.

Kane County Judge T. Jordan Gallagher Friday sentenced Antonio E. Espino, 23, of the 1500 block of Crimson Lane, Palatine, to 24½ years behind bars for his role in the attack.

Espino must serve 85 percent of his sentence, which is about 20 years and 10 months.

Brian Norbut, 23, of the 800 block of Dorman Drive, Streamwood, also was sentenced to 24½ years — of which he must serve 85 percent — after he pleaded guilty last fall.

Espino pleaded guilty to 18 counts of home invasion, kidnapping, armed robbery and vehicular hijacking earlier this year.

Gallagher said he would take the guilty plea into account, but stressed that the horror experienced by the Carpentersville family and others victimized by the pair from a spate of Cook County armed robberies, was extreme. Especially for the parents of the 5-year-old, who were told she was going to die if they didn’t provide an ATM code.

“I just can’t imagine what those victims were thinking,” Gallagher said.

The child eventually was returned home and the pair stole a television and other electronics, along with $400 from the ATM. They wore masks and used a pellet gun instead of a real one.

Norbut and Espino both were sentenced to 18 years in prison last fall for several Cook County offenses. They must serve 85 percent (15 years), for robbing a Prospect Heights couple and an Schaumburg woman, along with two armed robberies at Subway restaurants in February and March 2010.

The sentences for both will be served at the same time, but the Kane sentences take priority because they are longer.

Espino, who himself has a toddler son, apologized for his actions and asked Gallagher that the Carpentersville sentence be equal to the Cook County term and that he serve the sentences concurrently.

“I’m truly sorry. I’m not sorry that I got caught. I’m sorry for what I did,” Espino told Gallagher. “I feel like I’m losing my son’s life. I don’t want him to turn out to be the same person I did.”

Espino’s mother, Tina Velazquez, testified that Espino’s biological father left her when she was four months pregnant, that Espino’s stepfather beat him, and Espino was robbed in Chicago and decided to commit crimes to make ends meet.

“I do not condone what they did and I pray for those people who were affected,” Velazquez said. “I know he takes full responsibility for his actions.”