9 years for Glendale Heights home invasion

A former Glendale Heights man was sentenced to nine years in prison Wednesday for breaking into his wife’s home and threatening her with a gun after he found her with another man.

Eric Williams, 38, had faced up to 15 years after pleading guilty to home invasion in January.

DuPage County Judge George Bakalis said Williams flew into a “jealous rage” on Jan. 24, 2010, after the defendant’s wife and another man — both half-naked — answered the door to her Glendale Heights home and then abruptly shut it in Williams’ face.

Afterward, Williams forced his way inside and confronted the two in a bedroom while threatening them with a loaded .38 caliber gun, prosecutors said.

“You have to envision what these people were thinking,” the judge told Williams as he imposed the sentence. “I’m sure they believed you were on the verge of killing them both.”

Williams testified he was unaware that his wife was seeing another man. He said the couple had not filed for divorce and, although they lived apart at times, they also stayed together on and off at her home on Golfview Drive in Glendale Heights.

Williams denied bringing the gun to the house but admitted he retrieved it from a bedroom closet and “waved it around” for a few minutes.

“I’m truly sorry,” he said. “Every day it bothers me and I think about it. I wish I could change it.”

Defense attorney James Stamos sought a minimum six years for Williams, while the prosecution asked for 15 — the maximum under a plea agreement.

Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Lindt said Williams’ wife continues to live in fear, worried that “he’s going to come back and finish what he started.”

“It’s lucky we’re not looking at a double homicide,” he said. “This is clearly an act of revenge.”