7 years prison for Aurora man convicted of shooting, police chase
An Aurora man was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for shooting an acquaintance and leading police on a 14-minute chase that ended when he truck a utility pole.
John W. Sperry, 56, of the 300 block of Grant Place, was found not guilty of attempted murder after a four-day trial in January. Jurors did find him guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated fleeing and eluding; Kane County Judge John Barsanti sentenced Sperry for the March 4, 2017, attack in which Sperry's former roommate was shot in the cheek, with the bullet exiting out of the back of his head.
Prosecutors said Sperry drove to the victim's house on the 300 block of Jackson Street, argued with the victim and, according to a police affidavit used to secure a search warrant for Sperry's car, yelled, "Do you want to die?" before pulling out a .38-caliber handgun and firing a shot that hit the man.
The victim, 56, who was Sperry's former roommate, continues to recover, prosecutors said. Sperry drove off in his 1988 Cadillac Brougham and took police on a chase through the city's east and northeast sides that hit speeds of 70 mph before he hit a utility pole at Claim Street and Lincoln Avenue and was arrested, prosecutors said.
Sperry must serve 85 percent of the six-year gun sentence, or about 61 months. Under state law, he can have the one-year term for fleeing and eluding cut in half for good behavior.
He also gets credit for 377 days served at the Kane County jail while the case was pending.