Ex-cab driver sentenced to 35 years for sexual assaults
A former cabdriver charged with sexually assaulting two women he picked up outside a Prospect Heights nightclub and attempting to assault a third pleaded guilty to the charges Wednesday.
Eric Chung, 31, was sentenced to a total of 35 years in exchange for his guilty plea to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. He also pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and was sentenced to four years, which Cook County Judge Bridget Hughes ordered he serve concurrently with his other sentences, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Tami Strickman.
Hughes ordered Chung to register as a sex offender upon his release.
Twice in February 2013, authorities say Chung picked up women outside the H.O.M.E. Bar in his taxi van and assaulted them. The first victim managed to escape, prosecutors said. The second got into Chung's cab with two friends. The women thought Chung was behaving inappropriately and asked to be let out. When the second victim, who was sitting in the front seat, tried to leave, Chung sped off toward a Schaumburg office park where he assaulted her, prosecutors said during Chung's 2013 bond hearing.
Strickman said one of the victims, who was in court Wednesday, expressed satisfaction with the sentence.
Chung received credit for the 602 days he has spent in custody since his arrest. He must complete at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, Strickman said.