A man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for driving intoxicated for the fifth time when he caused a head-on crash that killed a 21-year-old man in Fox Lake.
Kevin C. Kaminski, 49, of Ingleside, was charged in early January by a Lake County grand jury with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence causing death and two counts of reckless homicide.
Court records show two additional charges of aggravated driving under the influence fifth offense were filed in late January by the grand jury.
The charges stem from a vehicle crash that occurred around 9:40 p.m. on August 24, 2023, at Route 12 between Route 59 and Route 134 in Fox Lake.
Fox Lake Police Chief Dawn DeServi said at the time that an investigation showed a black Cadillac SRX was traveling southbound on Route 12 in the northbound lanes.
The Cadillac, driven by Kaminski, struck a Ford work van, which was traveling northbound on Route 12, DeServi said.
Firefighters arrived to find the drivers of both vehicles were trapped inside and needed to be extricated.
Paramedics reported the driver of the Ford work van, later identified as Anthony Herrera, 21, of Wauconda, was unconscious.
Firefighters extricated both drivers and paramedics transported them to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
Herrera was critically injured and died after arriving at the hospital, DeServi said.
Kaminski suffered various lacerations and possible fractures but survived the incident.
DeServi said both drivers were the sole occupants of their vehicles.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) responded to assist the Fox Lake Police Department with the investigation.
Investigators worked for several hours at the scene reconstructing the crash.
The indictment said Kaminski was driving under the combined influence of drugs and alcohol.
Toxicology testing showed Kaminski had clonazepam and alcohol in his system, which rendered him incapable of safely driving a vehicle, the indictment said.
The indictment also said Kaminski acted in a reckless manner by driving intoxicated in the opposite lane of travel and failing to reduce his speed to avoid the crash, which led to Herrera’s death.
It was Kaminski’s fifth driving under the influence violation.
At the time of the fatal crash, Kaminski was out on a personal recognizance bond for driving under the influence in Lake County on July 1, 2023.
He was only charged with misdemeanors at the time of that arrest despite it being his fourth driving under the influence violation, which is a Class 2 felony in Illinois.
The charges in the July 2023 DUI were only upgraded by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office on January 31 — six months after it occurred.
Kaminski was taken into custody in late January following an arraignment hearing where he was ordered detained pending trial.
Court records show he entered into a negotiated plea deal with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office last month.
Kaminski pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated driving under the influence causing a crash involving death, a Class 2 felony.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti approved the plea and sentenced Kaminski to nine years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) pursuant to the agreement.
The sentence will be served at 85% and he will receive credit for time spent in custody awaiting trial.
Kaminski was also sentenced to three years in the IDOC on his other case where he was charged with his fourth DUI in July 2023.
The two sentences will be served concurrently, court records show. Kaminski will also be required to pay $1,861 in court fines and fees.
Kaminski is projected to be paroled from the IDOC in September 2031.
In 2016, Kaminski, a drug user who reported he was clean at the time, was spotlighted by Lake County officials when they rolled out the “A Way Out” program for drug users.