Two men get 15 years for Barrington Hills home invasion

Tearful and quivering with emotion, a Barrington Hills couple stood silently as two men accused of breaking into their home, holding their family hostage at gunpoint and robbing them were sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday.

Frederick Neal, 34, and Leville Starks, 32, both from the Rockford area, pleaded guilty to one count of home invasion, a Class X felony. They also face charges in an Elgin home invasion.

The Cook County state's attorney's office dismissed 21 other counts, including charges of aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery, against the two men in exchange for the plea deal.

A trial date for a third defendant, Starks' older brother, Anthony, 36, of Rockford, is set for Monday, Aug. 3.

Neal and Starks got their sentences reduced by 334 days because of time already served since their arrest in August.

The two men admitted to holding the Barrington Hills couple and their four children at gunpoint for more than an hour on Aug. 16. They also admitted they roused the sleeping family members, bound them with duct tape and demanded money, jewelry, pin numbers and credit cards, Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber said.

"This has got to be one of the worst crimes that I think anybody can do to someone else," Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta said during sentencing. "Had there been a minor scratch on any one of these individuals, and I would not go along with this agreement."

The Barrington Hills couple declined to comment.

Outside the Rolling Meadows courtroom, Starks' mother, Dorothy Starks, 63, of Carpentersville said she believes her son is innocent and was railroaded into accepting the plea deal.

"If he'd have did it, I'm fine with the time," she said.

Neal and Starks face charges in a similar home invasion that occurred Aug. 22 in Elgin. Elgin police arrested the pair in early September in connection with that crime after receiving a tip from a confidential informant. Those cases are still pending.

Starks is scheduled to appear before a Kane County judge Aug. 13. Neal is due back in Kane County Circuit Court Aug. 27.