Defense attorney Jed Stone said Tuesday morning he is urging his client Jeremy Betancourt to meet with him immediately to surrender after Betancourt was charged with escape for allegedly leaving a periodic imprisonment program.
Stone declined to say whether he has been in contact with the 19-year-old, who is now wanted on a $1 million arrest warrant. Betancourt is serving a probationary sentence for a street-racing crash that killed Antioch High School student Cynthia Perez in 2013.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is actively searching for Betancourt, officials said Monday.
Stone said Betancourt appears to have thrown away a year’s worth of accomplishments and now faces a possible prison sentence on his guilty plea to aggravated DUI in the death of Perez. He could also face a mandatory consecutive sentence for escape if he is convicted on the new charge.
Escape is a Class 2 felony that carries a two- to five-year prison sentence upon conviction.
“Everyone knows Jeremy has certain intellectual deficiencies,” Stone said. “He would have graduated high school in June, which would have been a major, if not phenomenal, accomplishment.”
Betancourt, an Antioch resident, had completed more than 200 hours of the 250 hours of community service hours that were part of his sentence, Stone said, adding that his client also completed nearly a year of periodic imprisonment.
“Now it’s all gone for naught,” Stone said.
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A probation report noted that Betancourt may have to take summer school to finish his requirements for high school graduation.
Last year, Betancourt received a probationary sentence, including 30 months periodic imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI for the 2013 crash that caused the death of Perez.
Under terms of the periodic imprisonment, he was only to be released from custody to attend high school or counseling.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition last week to revoke Betancourt’s probation for violations of his probation, including attempting to bring a cellphone and cigarettes into the community-based corrections center where he was being held.
Stone said he is discouraged that Betancourt is in such a serious situation over initial probation violations that the attorney said were not criminal actions, but an example of Betancourt “clowning around.”
The court clearly did not see it that way. When Betancourt did not appear at Wednesday’s hearing on the petition to revoke his probation, Judge Victoria Rossetti issued a $250,000 bench warrant for his arrest.
The state’s attorney’s office then filed escape charges against Betancourt, and a $1 million arrest warrant was issued Friday by Judge Christen Bishop.
The negotiated deal under which Betancourt pleaded guilty had capped any potential prison sentence at 10 years. In exchange for his guilty plea, additional charges, including reckless homicide, were dismissed.
Rossetti sentenced Betancourt to four years of intensive probation to include 30 months of periodic imprisonment. Betancourt was warned at his sentencing hearing that any proven violation of his probation would likely result in a prison sentence.
According to prosecutors, on June 24, 2013, Betancourt had smoked marijuana and then participated in a street race on Route 120 at speeds in excess of 20 miles over the limit, leading to the crash.
Perez, 16, had been a passenger in Betancourt’s car, and was killed when he lost control in a one-vehicle rollover accident.
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