A 24-year-old Carpentersville man Wednesday became the second defendant to plead guilty to arson in the torching of the former Huntley High School last year.
John P. Daley, of 433 S. Hubbard Rd., also pleaded guilty to an unrelated felony theft charge in a blind deal with prosecutors in which Daley left the sentencing up to Judge Thomas Schermerhorn of McHenry County Circuit Court.
Schermerhorn, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 10, can give Daley a prison term of 3 to 7 years on each charge.
William Gracik, the assistant public defender who represents Daley, said the only stipulation in the blind plea is that any prison sentences be served concurrently. Gracik said outside court that he will ask for probation on grounds that Daley lacks a prior criminal record and because he “was not the main perpetrator” of the school fire on Oct. 1, 1996.
Ronald Inderbitzin, assistant state’s attorney, said he will ask for a prison term “commensurate” with the 4-year sentence negotiated earlier this month by Keith Guminski, 22, of 433 S. Hubbard Rd., Algonquin, in his guilty plea to arson and an unrelated felony auto theft.
“They did about $150,000 damage to the school, so we intend to ask for restitution, also,” Inderbitzin said.
Police said Guminski and Daley filled a bottle with gasoline, lit the wick and tossed the bottle through one of the windows of the former high school that now houses an elementary school. The damage from the 2:30 am. blaze included an entire wing.
Daley’s theft plea involved the stealing of a pickup truck.