Rochelle man pleads guilty to 2023 stabbing, sentenced to 30 months probation with conditions

OREGON – A Rochelle man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation Wednesday for stabbing a man in Rochelle in 2023.

Jesse J. Mohica, 23, pleaded guilty to the felony offense of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon when he appeared in court with his attorney, Ogle County Public Defender Michael O’Brien, in front of Judge John Redington.

Ogle county Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten said the state had reached a plea agreement with Mohica and recommended he be sentenced to 30 months of probation and fined $750.

Mohica, who has been in custody in the Ogle County Correction Center since his November arrest, also was ordered to spend 142 days in jail but was given credit for 73 days already served.

A felony charge of mob action was dismissed, as were misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and domestic battery.

On Wednesday, Mohica pleaded guilty to stabbing a Rochelle man in the thigh Oct. 7.

In reading the charge to the court, Leisten said Mohica stabbed the man in the thigh “without provocation.”

“And how do you plead?” Redington said.

“Guilty,” said Mohica, who appeared in court wearing handcuffs and shackles and dressed in an orange jumpsuit issued to county jail inmates.

As part of his sentence, Mohica was ordered to have no contact with the victim or any of the other people present at the time of the incident. He also was ordered not to consume alcohol, cannabis or any controlled substance during his probation period.

Additionally, he is ordered to comply with random Breathalyzer tests.

Leisten said Mohica was going to be transferred to DuPage County “for another matter” and would be housed there as that case proceeds.

When asked by Redington what the DuPage County charges were, Leisten said aggravated battery and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Redington told Mohica that he would have to appear in Ogle County court at 9 a.m. Oct. 28 in relation to the fine in the Ogle County case.

“If you are still in custody at that time, you need to send me a letter 30 days in advance telling me that,” Redington told Mohica. “If you are not in custody at that time, I expect you to be here.”

A nationwide warrant still is outstanding for another man in connection with the case, Bailey J. Gildea, 29, of Rochelle.

In connection with the stabbing incident, Gildea is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, mob action, aggravated fleeing to elude authorities and resisting arrest.

He is being charged as an accomplice and also is accused of punching the victim. He has a felony criminal history in the county dating to 2016, when he was indicted on a drug-dealing charge, court records show.

On June 23, 2017, he was sentenced to six years for dealing cocaine and sent to boot camp. Another count of dealing cocaine was dismissed.

On July 15 and 27 in 2022, Gildea was involved in the beating of two men, one of whom he punched, causing a concussion, court records show.

On Dec. 19, 2022, he was sentenced in those two cases and one other to a year and a half in prison – terms set to run concurrently – for two counts of mob action, aggravated battery and criminal damage to government property. Possession of a controlled substance and two counts of aggravated battery were dismissed per his plea agreement.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, he subsequently was paroled from Centralia Correctional Center on June 1 and now is considered an absconder.

Gildea is 5 feet, 10 inches tall with auburn hair and blue eyes. He has “Carmyn” tattooed on his right lower arm, “Adalynn” on his left lower arm and an eye inside a triangle on this left hand.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 815-732-1101 or Ogle-Lee Crime Stoppers at 888-228-4488.

Callers can remain anonymous. Information leading to Gildea’s arrest may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

• Reporter Kathleen Schultz contributed to this story.