From the State’s Attorney:
JAMES D. MERCER SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR HOME INVASION
On January 30, 2025, James D. Mercer, 19, from Rockford was sentenced to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the charge of Home Invasion.
He was also sentenced to 4 years IDOC for Residential Burglary in a separate crime.
Both matters began as thefts from vehicles.
Olson entered a negotiated guilty plea before the Honorable Judge Mark R. Gerhardt.
The defendant had committed a series of car burglaries in Woodstock in January of 2023.
On January 21, 2013, in two separate cases, he broke into residential garages to steal valuables from inside the vehicles.
In one case, a homeowner interrupted the burglary.
Mercer fired multiple shots as he fled to a waiting car.
Mercer was ultimately identified through a forensic investigation that linked him to the stolen proceeds and placed him as traveling to and from Rockford to the crime scenes.
Mercer also gave a video confession to McHenry County Sherriff’s detectives.
Additionally, Mercer provided detectives with a handwritten apology letter to the victim.
The State’s Attorney commends the collaborative investigative efforts of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department, Rockford Police Department, and Woodstock Police Department. This case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley A. Romito.
Rockford 19-Year Old Man Gets Twenty Years for Home Invasion after Guilty Plea | Dailywise
[…] Story continues […]