Jail, probation for Elgin man who drove drunk after fatal 1995 DUI
An Elgin man who was convicted of reckless homicide in a 1995 DUI has been sentenced to several weekends in jail and probation after pleading guilty to driving drunk in late 2017.
John Boutzarelos, 54, of the 400 block of North Alfred Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI and received several traffic citations after an arrest at 3:01 a.m. Dec. 7, 2017, according to Kane County court records and an Elgin police report.
Boutzarelos was driving a Cadillac 2017 CTS the wrong way on a Kimball Street near Douglas Avenue, police said. He smelled of alcohol and failed field sobriety tests. A chemical test showed his blood-alcohol concentration to be .104; well above the legal threshold in Illinois of .08.
According to an Elgin police report, a check of Boutzarelos' record showed he was guilty of aggravated DUI/great bodily harm and involuntary manslaughter/reckless homicide from the 1995 crash and that previous conviction resulted in the December 2017 arrest being upgraded to a felony.
Police and prosecutors declined to elaborate on the 1995 crash.
Boutzarelos, who had been free after posting $2,700 bond, pleaded guilty last week before Kane County Judge Kathryn Karayannis, according to court records.
Under the sentence, Boutzarelos must spend 15 days of periodic imprisonment on weekends at the Kane County jail and must complete 30 months of probation in which he is to have no criminal or traffic offenses, complete a drug and alcohol evaluation, attend a victim impact panel and wear an alcohol monitoring device for 365 days, court records show.
Defense attorney Christopher Cosley did not return a phone message.
If Boutzarelos violates his probation, he could be resentenced to up to five years in prison.