Darien man sentenced to 12 years for fatal DUI crash on I-55

A man was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison for killing a man in a DUI crash on I-55 near Darien.

Robert Ebel, 55, pleaded guilty in April to one count of aggravated DUI — accident causing death. A charge of reckless homicide was dropped.

Around 2 p.m. Aug. 22, 2020, Ebel, formerly of Homer Glen, was driving a car on I-55 south of Cass Avenue. He tried to pass a semi-tractor-trailer truck on the righthand shoulder. He hit a disabled vehicle occupied by 51-year-old John Exner. Exner lived in Fargo, North Dakota, according to his obituary.

Exner suffered a collapsed lung, internal bleeding and an injured spleen, and died the next day.

Ebel had amphetamine, cocaine metabolite, cocaine and THC in his system at the time of the crash, according to a news release from the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

After his arrest in 2020, bail was set at $750,000, and Ebel was freed after posting a $75,000 bond. The bail was increased several times, ultimately to $5 million in May 2022, after Ebel was accused several times of violating pretrial drug-use testing by either not providing a sample or testing positive for cocaine, according to court records.

Ebel must serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole. He was given credit for the 958 days he has spent in jail.

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