101-year sentence affirmed for kidnapping, rape of student in Bloomingdale
A state appellate court has upheld the 101-year prison sentence given to a man convicted of kidnapping a 21-year-old college student outside a Bloomingdale shopping center, then robbing and raping her.
Justin Dalcollo, 39, was seeking a new sentence for his 2021 conviction, arguing that DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh improperly imposed consecutive prison terms totaling 101 years.
The 3rd District Illinois Appellate Court disagreed, ruling last week that Walsh did not abuse her discretion in handing down the lengthy sentence.
A jury found Dalcollo guilty of six counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, one count of armed robbery, one count of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, after a five-day trial in 2021.
Prosecutors said the victim was getting in to her car at about 3:30 p.m. March 22, 2019, when Dalcollo forced his way into the vehicle at gunpoint. He ordered her take out $300 at an ATM in Glendale Heights, then forced her to drive to locations in Hanover Park and Bartlett, authorities said. He sexually assaulted her in a parking lot at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, ordered her to drive to a convenience store and accompany him into the store, and made her call a cab for him, according to prosecutors.
Dalcollo, whose last known address was in Nicholasville, Kentucky, was arrested the next day.
He initially pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 75 years in prison. But he later withdrew the guilty plea and served as his own attorney at trial.
Walsh sentenced him to consecutive sentences of 40 years each for two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, to be followed by a 21-year sentence for aggravated kidnapping.
The judge noted at the 2022 sentencing hearing that Dalcollo had prior convictions for domestic battery and was on parole in Ohio on an unlawful sexual conduct with a minor conviction when he removed his ankle monitor and committed the Illinois offenses.
Dalcollo argued in his appeal the judge failed to take in to account any potential for rehabilitation.
The appellate court concluded that “in light of the nature of defendant’s 10 convictions and the court’s finding that his actions were ‘deplorable’ and ‘reprehensible’ and defendant was ‘incapable of rehabilitation,’ the court did not abuse its discretion when sentencing defendant.”