Drunken driver gets 9 years for collision that severely injured teenager

March 28

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a drunken driver who struck a teenage girl and severely injured her in 2012 was sentenced to nine years in prison on Friday.

Fidencio Castillo, 29, of Peotone, was intoxicated when he struck the 17-year-old girl while she was walking along Wilmington-Peotone Road near the Will County Fairgrounds in the evening on Aug. 3, 2012.  Castillo’s blood-alcohol level tested at .101 two hours after the crash; the legal limit is .08 in Illinois.

The young girl suffered severe head injuries in the collision and now requires around-the-clock professional care in a nursing home. She was walking to a friend’s house just before dark on the evening she was struck.

Castillo faced 1-12 years in prison after pleading guilty to Aggravated DUI in December. The defendant had been arrested on two prior occasions for DUI, and he had a long history of alcohol and cocaine abuse, according to court testimony.

“No apology from the defendant can restore the vibrant young lady who must spend the rest of her life in a nursing home because of injuries she suffered at the hands of a drunken driver,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “Fidencio Castillo will spend a long time behind prison bars contemplating his callous decision and the tremendous harm he caused.”
      
Assistant State’s Attorneys Frank Byers and Tom Bahar secured the plea and sentence that will take Castillo off the streets. The State’s Attorney also credited Victim-Witness Advocate Nichole Pasteris for assisting the victim and her family throughout the court process. 

The defendant must serve 85-percent of the sentence handed down by Circuit Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.