Hoffman Estates man, 56, gets 15 years for BB gun robbery

A 56-year-old Hoffman Estates man who has spent much of the last three decades behind bars pleaded guilty Thursday to robbing a Streamwood gas station in November 2007.

In exchange for his guilty plea to aggravated robbery, Michael D. Daniels was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum for a Class I felony.

"I take full responsibility for my actions," said Daniels, who acknowledged a longtime addiction to drugs and alcohol at his sentencing in Rolling Meadows. "I have been in and out of the Illinois Department of Corrections all my life."

Daniels made off with $300 and cigarettes after flashing a BB gun at the clerk and demanding cash, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Shilpa Patel. Daniels, formerly of the 1000 block of Knoll Drive, later admitted to police that he robbed the gas station, Patel said.

This 15-year sentence will run concurrently with the 30-year sentence he received recently for other Cook County robberies, Patel said. Those cases were heard at the Skokie and Berwyn courthouses.

Earlier this year, Daniels received a sentence of 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to a series of robberies he committed in DuPage County in 2007, Patel said. His background also includes a 20-year sentence for aggravated robbery from 1997, a 14-year sentence for robbery in 1988 and a four-year sentence for theft from 1984, Patel said.

Daniels received credit for the 855 days he has spent in custody since his arrest.

He requested an order from Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Fecarotta mandating mental health treatment and substance abuse counseling, saying "if I live through my sentence, I might come home a better person."

Fecarotta honored Daniels' request.