
A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a robbery of a gas station convenience store in Woodstock where three suspects pointed guns at the clerk’s head.
Rosendo Pacheco, 19, of Beloit, Wisconsin, was charged with armed robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary, two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a handgun under 18.
Court records show Pacheco had previously been charged in juvenile court and the case was transferred to adult court in December 2023.
Another suspect, Ray Castro, 18, of South Beloit, was also charged with armed robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary, two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a handgun under 18.
He was also originally charged in juvenile court before the case was transferred to adult court in February 2023.
The two men, along with a third suspect, were accused of committing an armed robbery that occurred around 1:30 a.m. on July 10, 2022, at Circle K, 155 South Eastwood Drive in Woodstock.
Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said at the time that three armed, masked subjects entered the store.
A fourth subject remained in the driver’s seat of their getaway vehicle.
The three suspects displayed firearms and demanded cash from the sole clerk in the store, Lieb said.
Court documents said the three suspects in the robbery pointed guns at the victim’s head.
They exited with cash and store products. The suspects then fled northbound in the vehicle they arrived in.
A search for the vehicle in Woodstock was unsuccessful and the police department’s investigations division responded to the scene.
Neighboring police agencies were also provided with a description of the vehicle but it was not located the night of the incident, Lieb said.
Two days later, the vehicle was located crashed in West Allis, Wisconsin, and three subjects were arrested.
The fourth subject in the car was able to elude law enforcement. Lieb said the subjects arrested were all juvenile males at the time.
They were eventually released to their parents by West Allis, Wisconsin officers.
The West Allis Police Department was not aware of the armed robbery in Woodstock when they released the subjects, Lieb said.
Court records show Pacheco and Castro were both juveniles at the time of the robbery. The case against the third suspect is unclear.
Pacheco on Friday pleaded guilty to an amended count of armed robbery, a Class X felony, and was sentenced to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) pursuant to the plea agreement with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The sentence will be served at 50% in accordance with truth-in-sentencing guidelines and Pacheco will receive credit for 492 days of time served in the McHenry County Jail.
Court records show Castro was released on a $250,000 bond following his arrest but later failed to appear in court on August 9, 2023, and a warrant was issued.
The case against Castro was abated by prosecutors in March 2024 after court records said the man had died.
News reports said Castro was fatally shot by police after he rammed a stolen car into a squad car on March 16 in Rock County, Wisconsin.