Man gets 22 years for Villa Park home invasion
A man was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years in prison for his role in a Villa Park home invasion in which three people were tied up and robbed.
Jaime Aguirre, 23, of Highland Park, was one of four men charged in the Feb. 12 crime that unfolded after one of the victims arranged to meet a prostitute at his home.
Authorities said the victim who arranged the meeting was met by Aguirre and three other men when he answered his door on the 700 block of West Roy Drive.
The group held him at gunpoint, put a pillowcase over his head, bound him with strings from a set of blinds, and took his bank cards.
“They threatened to cut off his toe if he could not remember his PIN numbers,” Assistant State's Attorney Robert Stanker said in court.
Stanker said Aguirre and a co-defendant withdrew about $500 from the victim's accounts while the other suspects stood guard over him.
When they returned, the remaining members of the group had tied up two other victims who showed up at the home in the meantime.
Aguirre and another man then took those victims' bank cards and made more withdrawals, Stanker said.
None of the victims was seriously injured.
Aguirre and three co-defendants were arrested after police used a gas station surveillance video to locate a white Nissan used in the home invasion.
Authorities found a 9 mm handgun in the vehicle, Stanker said, and Aguirre confessed the men coordinated the robbery of the victim under the ruse of prostitution.
Aguirre had no prior criminal history but faced an extended term of 21 to 45 years in prison because a handgun was involved. He pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced under a plea agreement accepted by DuPage County Judge John Kinsella.
In court, Kinsella told Aguirre he should be ashamed of himself and that it was “despicable” to enter a person's home to terrorize and steal from him.
“Short of harming, injuring or killing someone, that's about as bad as it gets,” the judge said.
In exchange for Aguirre's plea, prosecutors dropped related charges of aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery.
Co-defendants Frederico Garcia, 26; Darwin Amador-Velasquez, 29; and Sabas Torres, 27, all of Chicago, have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed while their cases are pending.
By law, Aguirre must serve at least 11 years before he is eligible for parole.