Judge denies guilty plea withdrawal, reduced sentence requests from drunken driver who killed Sterling woman

MORRISON — A Sterling man will remain behind bars after a Whiteside County judge denied his motion to withdraw his guilty plea or reconsider the eight-year prison sentence he was given for driving drunk and killing a Sterling woman in August 2017.

Whiteside County Judge Trish Senneff denied Douglas M. Strehlow’s motions Thursday to withdraw his guilty plea or reconsider his sentence in connection with the Aug. 19, 2017, crash that led to the death of Summer D. Harmon, 40, of Sterling. Strehlow, whose blood-alcohol concentration was almost three times the legal limit at the time, was traveling south on Route 40 in rural Sterling, just north of Fulfs Road, about 2:40 a.m. when his pickup hit Harmon’s car almost head on, according to court documents. Harmon died three days later.

Strehlow, 50, then of Milledgeville but now of Sterling, pleaded guilty Nov. 30, 2022, to aggravated driving under the influence resulting in the death. A second count was dismissed. He was sentenced Sept. 25, 2023, to eight years in prison.

During Thursday’s court hearing, Strehlow’s argument to withdraw his guilty plea came down to whether the medications he was on for severe pain at the time could have interfered with his ability to knowingly, intelligently, willingly and voluntarily enter a guilty plea.

Strehlow, under questioning by his attorney, Louis Pignatelli, told Senneff — who was the sentencing judge — that he wasn’t sure how much the medications had affected him, but they may have clouded his judgement at the time he pleaded guilty.

Senneff was not buying Strehlow’s argument, which included him naming two medications he was on at the time of sentencing and a third one that he described as a painkiller he took twice a day. He wasn’t sure of the dosage or name of the third drug, he said.

“This is the very first time any of us are hearing this,” Senneff said of Strehlow’s claims. She also said Strehlow had not provided any expert testimony about the medications or whether it was known if those medications would impact judgement. She said it wan’t enough for Strehlow to say he had been affected.

“Basically, it’s a self-serving statement,” she said.

Pignatelli continued to back up an argument for sentence reconsideration, saying Strehlow’s sentence should be reduced to probation because he was a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Marines, suffered severe injuries while in the military that required him to be on several medications, has had back surgeries for those injuries, has abstained from alcohol for five years, goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, has worked toward his bachelor’s degree, and is a father with shared custody.

Strehlow also said he didn’t know he would be sentenced to eight years.

“I thought my sentence would be less than it was,” he said.

“He doesn’t like the sentence,” Whiteside County State’s Attorney Terry Costello said. “That is not a basis for withdrawing a plea of guilt.”

Before making her ruling, Senneff read aloud the sentencing transcript, specifically the passages in which she asked Strehlow if he understood the agreement and he had said yes. She also said she could have sentenced him to 14 years in prison, but had decided at that time to sentence him to eight years, with 85% of the sentence to be served. She said she had acknowledged his military service, his work to stop his substance abuse and his heartfelt apology to Harmon’s family when deciding on the eight-year prison term.

“Mr. Strehlow chose to do whatever acts he did,” Senneff said when denying the motion for reconsideration. “In essence, he stole somebody’s life on that night and I can’t ignore that.”