Fox Lake man sentenced to 6 years for fatal crash
A Fox Lake man was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for killing a close friend in a crash after an afternoon of drinking in October 2012.
Anthony Cechini, 24, of the 0-100 block of Northlake Drive, was also sentenced to 364 days in prison by Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes for battering an ex-girlfriend at his apartment while out on bail in September 2013.
However, Shanes ruled Thursday the domestic battery sentence could be served simultaneously with the six-year sentence Cechini received for the crash that killed David Letchinger, 21, of McHenry.
“(David) was the only person to ever show me unconditional love,” said fiancee Jackie Davis, who had a child with Letchinger before his death last year. “There are so many things David is not going to see because of the senseless act of another human being.”
Thursday’s sentencing hearing came after Cechini pleaded guilty in October to a single count of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol that resulted in death. Had he been found guilty at trial, he could have been sentenced up to 14 years in prison.
Authorities said Cechini was behind the wheel of his 2004 Subaru and heading west on Nippersink Road on Oct. 1 when he lost control of the car and hit a tree. Authorities said Cechini, Letchinger and a third, unidentified man had been drinking at a bar in Fox Lake, and Cechini had a blood alcohol content of .189 percent when the crash occurred.
Letchinger was transported from the crash scene to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he died the next day. Cechini and the other passenger were also injured in the crash.
After being released from the hospital, Cechini was charged with aggravated DUI and posted 10 percent of his $500,000 bail to be released from jail. However, those charges were later upgraded after a Lake County grand jury indicted him on five counts of aggravated DUI resulting in death, five counts of aggravated DUI that resulted in bodily harm, and one count of reckless homicide.
After being out on bail for 11 months, Cechini was arrested by police for slapping and trying to choke his ex-girlfriend at his Fox Lake residence on Sept. 6.
After that arrest, Cechini’s bail was doubled to $1 million and he was sent back to jail, where he has remained.
Cechini pleaded guilty to a single count of misdemeanor domestic battery in November, paving the way for the sentencing hearing Thursday.