Spring Grove man gets 8-year sentence for gun thefts

A Spring Grove man was sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting he stole multiple firearms, including automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns, from a McHenry County home.

Connor Freise, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony, according to a judgment order in McHenry County court.

Prosecutors said that on Dec. 18, 2023, Freise entered a Harvard home through a window, broke into a safe and stole nine firearms.

The owner of the firearms said he also found a backpack in his garage containing an electric angle grinder, authorities said. The owner of the guns said he recognized the backpack as Freise’s because he had given it to him, according to prosecutors.

While the burglary was being investigated, and before Freise was arrested, he was charged in a separate case alleging that on Jan. 26, 2024, he possessed a stolen snowmobile in Fox Lake, records show. Charges from that case were dismissed last week, however, records show.

At the time he was charged in both cases, Freise was on parole for a 2021 conviction for possessing of a stolen Jeep Patriot, records show.

As part of his plea agreement, Freise must also pay more than $6,500 in restitution to the owner of the firearms. In exchange for the plea in this case, prosecutors dropped additional charges, including theft, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of burglary tools and criminal damage to property, according to court documents.