Man who killed his wife will go free in about 32 months
A Vernon Hills man convicted of killing his wife will spend 32 months in prison after his sentence was reduced by a Lake County judge Friday.
Ronald Stolberg's sentence was cut by about 16 months by Lake County Judge Mark Levitt, who granted him 486 days of time-served credit toward his prison sentence.
That sentence could be reduced even more because of good time credit Stolberg has or will accrue in the future while in prison, defense attorney Kevin Rosner said.
“We're very pleased with the sentence,” Rosner said. “Friday's decision was fair, and that's what we wanted.”
Levitt initially sentenced Stolberg to eight years in prison after a jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter for killing his wife, Rachel, in their Vernon Hills townhouse in 2011.
That sentence was reduced to four years because a person convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Illinois is only required to serve 50 percent of the total sentence, Rosner explained.
Levitt's ruling Friday further reduces Stolberg's prison sentence to about two years and eight months. The 486 days credit Stolberg received includes 420 days he physically served in Lake County jail and 66 days for the time served at home, on 24-hour curfew and wearing a home monitoring device.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Scott Hoffert argued Stolberg should receive credit only for time he served when he was physically incarcerated.
“If you are released on bond ... you are not in custody,” Hoffert said.
Defense attorneys were trying to get Stolberg out of prison by Christmas because, they said he should receive more than 800 days of credit for all the time he spent on the monitoring device.
Stolberg testified Friday he was forced to check in with court services three times before leaving his house while wearing the device, then had to check in with police after he arrived at his destination.
He also said that because of a later change in his bond, he was allowed to go to the grocery store to pick up food.
“I only like my food fresh,” he said.
In his ruling, Levitt gave Stolberg credit for time while on an electronic monitoring device and conforming to a 24-hour curfew, but not when he was on the device and allowed to leave his home for personal matters.
Stolberg was initially charged with first-degree murder in the June, 8 2011, death of his wife, Rachel.
During the trial, prosecutors said Stolberg became so irritated with his mentally ill wife that he lashed out at her in the early morning hours, dragged her onto the hardwood floor in their townhouse, put his knee on her back and crushed her into the floor.
The move drove the air out of Rachel Stolberg, prosecutors said, and she died of traumatic asphyxiation.
Defense attorneys argued successfully that prosecutors were not able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ronald Stolberg intentionally killed his wife.