Grayslake man gets prison in burglary case

A Grayslake man was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after he admitted breaking into a residence and stealing several items of property.

Seay Hubbard, 32, pleaded guilty to burglary during a hearing before Lake County Circuit Judge Daniel Shanes.

Assistant State’s Attorney Rod Drobinski said a woman resident of the 200 block of McMillan Street told Grayslake police her apartment had been broken into on Aug. 9.

She said a .22-caliber rifle, a video game console and controllers, two rings and a plastic jug containing about $300 in coins were missing from her home.

Police received information that Hubbard, of the 300 block of Moore Court, had cashed in about $300 in change at a coin conversion machine in a Grayslake grocery store a few days after the burglary.

Police reviewed the security camera video at the store and identified Hubbard entering the store with a jug exactly like the one the woman described.

A canvass of local pawn shops also located the video game equipment in a Mundelein shop, and records indicated the equipment had been sold by Hubbard.

Police brought Hubbard in for questioning on Aug. 23 and he admitted breaking into the apartment and taking everything but the rings.

Hubbard led police to the rifle, which he had hidden in some woods near the victim’s residence, but the rings were never recovered.

Drobinski agreed to reduce the charge against Hubbard from residential burglary to burglary in exchange for the guilty plea, and a charge of possession of a stolen firearm was dropped.

Drobinski said Hubbard would have faced a mandatory prison sentence of four to 15 years if he had been convicted of the original charges against him.