Ogle County judge sends man to prison after numerous revoked license convictions

OREGON – A 60-year-old Rockford man was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday, April 3, after pleading guilty to driving with a revoked driver’s license – a crime he has been convicted of more than a dozen other times in six area counties.

Eric Hentges, who is currently incarcerated with the Illinois Department of Corrections, appeared before Judge John Redington with his attorney, Ogle County Public Defender Kathryn Isley.

Isley told Redington that a plea agreement had been reached in Hentges’ Ogle County offense, which occurred March 4, 2023.

Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Kruse said Hentges was driving a truck at the intersection of Routes 251 and 72 in eastern Ogle County when an Ogle County sheriff’s deputy saw that the plate on the truck was registered to a stolen vehicle in Rockford.

When he was pulled over by the officer, the officer learned that Hentges did not have a valid driver’s license, Kruse said.

“He was driving with a revoked license because he had been convicted on 14 prior occasions in other counties,” Kruse said.

Court documents show that Hentges had been convicted of driving with a suspended or revoked license in Boone, Winnebago, McHenry, DeKalb and Carroll counties – all after a conviction for driving under the influence.

As per the plea agreement, Redington sentenced Hentges to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by one year of mandatory release. He said he believed that the plea agreement was “fair and reasonable” based on Hentges’ criminal history.

Hentges also was fined $649 – covered by his bond – and given credit for 128 days already served. The sentence will be served concurrently with his 2023 Winnebago County offense of driving with a revoked license and a 2022 aggravated fleeing from police offense.

Other Ogle County charges stemming from the March 4, 2023, incident – possession of a stolen license plate, theft, unlawful display of a license plate, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, illegal transportation or possession of alcohol – were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

The Illinois Department of Corrections shows that Hentges was last paroled July 13, 2015. He was sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison on a Carroll County charge of aggravated fleeing from police and driving with a revoked license, as well as 10 years for aggravated DUI.

Other charges in his criminal history dating from 1994 to 2001 include theft, domestic battery and receiving/possessing/selling a stolen vehicle.

The IDOC information sheet indicates that his projected parole date is Nov. 25, 2025. His projected discharge date is Nov. 25, 2026.