Woman won't accept DuPage plea deal in aggravated DUI case
A Cicero woman, who is accused of driving drunk when she crashed her SUV into an Aurora pond and left her 6-year-old son in the submerged vehicle, will not accept a deal from prosecutors that includes prison time, her attorney said.
Attorney Raul Villalobos said Tuesday outside court that his client, Gladys X. Ruvira-Garcia, is considering either a blind plea or taking the case to trial.
In the first scenario, DuPage County Judge Liam Brennan would sentence Ruvira-Garcia after hearing facts related to the charges to which she would plead guilty.
In the second, she would force prosecutors to prove her alleged impairment caused the crash, rather than the dark and slippery conditions that existed that night.
Ruvira-Garcia, 32, of the 5600 block of West 22nd Place, is charged with four counts of aggravated DUI and faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
She pleaded not guilty and has been free on $150,000 bail since last November when Brennan lowered her bail from $500,000.
Prosecutors say Ruvira-Garcia was returning home from a party in Aurora around 2 a.m. Oct. 15, 2017, along with her son, her 12- and 15-year-old daughters, and her 21-year-old sister when she lost control of her 2007 Nissan Xterra near Diehl Road and I-88 and plunged into a pond.
Villalobos called the curve "notoriously dangerous" on Tuesday and said it is in need of better signage and a guard rail.
Ruvira-Garcia, her daughters and her sister escaped the sinking vehicle, but the boy was left behind, officials said.
Divers from an Aurora Fire Department water rescue team found the SUV and the boy in about 15 feet of water roughly 80 feet from shore. Authorities say they think the boy was in the water for at least 30 minutes.
Ruvira-Garcia was arrested at the crash site. Prosecutors said she had a blood alcohol content of more than 0.14 percent, almost twice the legal threshold to drive.
The boy was taken to an Aurora hospital and then moved to a Chicago hospital where authorities say he spent nearly three months on a ventilator.
Villalobos said Tuesday that the boy is "doing well" and living with his father in Mexico.
Ruvira-Garcia, despite being free on bail, was placed on an immigration detainer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE officials said Ruvira-Garcia overstayed a temporary visitor's visa after entering the United States in May 2015.
"(Ruvira-Garcia)" is a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States. On Oct. 15, 2017, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed an immigration detainer on her with the Aurora Police Department at the time of her DUI arrest," spokeswoman Nicole Alberico said. "However, on Nov. 25, 2017, DuPage County jail failed to honor the ICE detainer and Ruvira-Garcia was released on bond."
Detainers serve as a legally authorized request made to law enforcement agencies to hold illegal immigrants for up to 48 hours after posting bail so that ICE may assume custody for removal purposes.
Pursuant to ICE policy, all ICE detainers are submitted with an accompanying administrative arrest warrant or warrant of removal depending upon the circumstances of the individual case.
Sgt. Robert Harris, spokesman for the DuPage County Sheriff's office, said in Ruvira-Garcia's case, ICE did not present a warrant so she was released.
While on bail, she has been ordered to wear an alcohol-detecting anklet in addition to a GPS device.
She also is prohibited from driving because she has no license or insurance.
Her next court date is scheduled for Jan. 17. Brennan said Tuesday that if an agreement is not reached by that date, he will set the case for trial.