Lake County Judge Sam Cappas told Andres Perez Friday that his lawyers may have spared him from dying in prison.
Perez, 46, pleaded guilty Feb. 12 to two counts of aggravated battery. His sentence was capped at 20 years. With two attempted murder cases, he could have faced up to 80 years.
“They saved you,” Cappas told him after the hearing.
I could have rejected your plea again, he added. “You would have died there.”
He was charged with attempted murder and other charges in July 2022 for allegedly shooting his wife’s brother in the arm after the man slashed his tires for abusing her.
Months later, in October 2022, Perez was charged in another attempted murder case after allegedly pulling up and firing at his estranged wife on the Borman Expressway, wounding her in the foot.
Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg said their relationship was volatile, but Perez couldn’t “take the hint to stay away.”
While the brother-in-law started that confrontation, Perez should have just called the cops.
She asked for 20 years.
Defense lawyer Russell Brown, representing Perez with Ken Elwood, said there was a bit more to the story, emphasizing the former couple’s “very toxic” relationship.
Before the woman’s shooting, she had invited Perez to a bar where she danced with another man. Then, some of her friends later beat Perez by a White Castle.
When he opened fire at the vehicle, it was a “bad reaction,” the lawyer said.
Cappas questioned him, because the state police report said three women were with her in the vehicle. Another man was in the car before police showed up, Brown said.
Brown asked for 12 years.
Perez apologized, saying he’s been taken away from his family for a few years.
“I completely regret my actions,” he said.
Cappas said the timeline — for about 18 months — showed he was “obsessed” with hurting the woman and had “unimaginable” anger.
He acknowledged the alleged fight and Perez was genuinely remorseful, but said that didn’t overcome what happened.
He would be facing a murder case if he wasn’t such a bad shot, Cappas said. If he hadn’t had the plea deal, he would have given him 32 years.
