An Antioch woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated DUI in connection with the death of a motorcyclist last summer and received a 10-year prison sentence under a negotiated deal.
Leena Ultsch, 35, pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated DUI resulting in death and one count of identity theft, and, in exchange, the state dismissed additional counts of aggravated DUI against Ultsch, as well as charges of failing to report an accident with injuries and failing to give aid.
The aggravated DUI charges resulted from a crash on Aug. 26, 2015, that killed 50-year-old Gregory Boyes, an unincorporated Antioch resident who was riding his motorcycle on Route 173 west of Linden Lane near Antioch.
In a statement to the court, Ultsch apologized for her actions and said she hopes that someday Boyes’ relatives will be able to forgive her.
Ultsch said she replays the events of the crash every day, and that she has spent the last year in “repentance.”
“I am confident I will never again make this kind of mistake,” Ultsch said, adding that she hopes to participate in programs with groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving to speak to others about the effects her actions had on the victim’s family and friends.
Under the plea deal accepted by Judge Patricia Fix, Ultsch was sentenced to eight years in prison, to be served at 85 percent, on the aggravated DUI charge, and two years, to be served at 50 percent, on the identity theft charge, which involved her unlawful use of a debit account belonging to someone else.
Fix noted that the charges against Ultsch were her first felonies, but that she had three previous DUI convictions.
While free on bond for the aggravated DUI charges, Ultsch failed a drug test earlier this year and then fled to Wyoming, according to authorities.
After failing the drug test, officials said Ultsch did not show up for a March 30 court date, and was arrested April 6 by police near Green River, Wyo. On April 8, she waived extradition and was returned to Lake County, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Ori said after the plea deal Tuesday that Ultsch was not charged with escape because the case was already in a negotiation phase, and officials believe the number of years agreed to in the plea deal is fair.
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Ori said the plea deal was discussed with the victim’s family and that the family is “completely satisfied with the sentence.”
Ultsch could have received up to 14 years in prison if convicted at trial of the aggravated DUI charges.
Ultsch will receive credit toward the prison term for the 221 days she has spent in Lake County Jail. Following completion of her prison term, she must serve a three-year term of supervised release.
After the fatal crash, investigators at first thought Boyes had driven off the roadway in a single-vehicle crash, but later found vehicle debris nearby.
About six hours later, Ultsch called the sheriff’s office to say she had been involved in a crash and left the scene because she panicked, authorities said. Officials said she told investigators she had been drinking wine the night of the accident.
On the heels of Gregory Boyes’ death last year, his brother and father both died in separate but possibly connected violent incidents this year, according to authorities.
Gregory Boyes’ brother, 53-year-old Gerald Boyes Jr., was fatally shot by police Aug. 16 in Antioch Township.
Police in Kentucky had been looking for the Gerald Boyes Jr,. as a person of interest in the double homicide of Boyes’ father, 73-year-old Gerald Boyes Sr., and his girlfriend, Billie Potter, outside of Paducah, Ky. authorities said.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office recently announced, following a review of evidence compiled by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, that the police shooting was justified, and that Gerald Boyes Jr. was holding a gun when he was shot by Lake County and McHenry County deputies.
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