Man gets 67 years in 2001 slaying of Lakemoor businessman . . . again

Kenneth Smith's second trial for the murder of Lakemoor businessman Raul Briseno ended two months ago just like the first - with a guilty verdict.

On Wednesday, his second sentencing for the March 2001 slaying also ended the same: with the 32-year-old Park City man heading to prison for 67 years.

Rejecting pleas for leniency from Smith's defense, McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather issued the maximum allowable sentence under state law. Prather handed down the same sentence after Smith's first conviction five years ago, seeing no reason to alter it Wednesday.

Family members of Briseno said they were happy to see Smith get the same sentence.

"Nothing less than the last time," his sister Maria Carrera said. "We're very satisfied."

Earlier in court, Carrera described Briseno as a role model for herself and his eight other siblings.

"He became a leader for the entire family," she said. "It was he who encouraged the others to go ahead and start their own businesses and become U.S. citizens. He wanted the rest of his family to have a better life."

A jury found Smith guilty in August of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery charges alleging he killed the 35-year-old Briseno March 6, 2001, during a botched holdup of the victim's Burrito Express restaurant in McHenry. Authorities say Briseno, who also owned a Burrito Express in Wauconda, was shot to death when he chased Smith and a second man out of the business after they tried to rob him at gunpoint.

Smith did not speak on his own behalf when given a chance Wednesday, but his attorneys sought a lesser sentence, telling Prather he came from a difficult childhood and suffers numerous medical ailments, including epilepsy and a heart murmur.

Prosecutors, however, said the 67-year term is as appropriate now as it was five years ago.

"This was a senseless, cold-blooded act which showed a complete lack of regard for human life," Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Michael Combs said. "The defendant did not care who he killed that night."

A jury first convicted Smith of the murder in 2003, but a state appeals court later overturned the verdict and ordered a second trial, ruling that jurors heard improper testimony.

Smith's defense plans to appeal the second verdict as well.

Before handing down the sentence, Prather denied a defense motion asking her to set aside the guilty verdict and order a third trial. Defense lawyers argue that dozens of judicial errors before and during the second trial made it impossible for Smith to receive a fair trial. Those claims will serve as the basis for their appeal.