A judge sentenced a convicted felon, who rejected a plea deal for 8 years in prison, to 14 years in prison for possessing a loaded gun and drugs inside his McHenry home where children were living.
Kenneth Price, 32, of McHenry, was charged in December 2023 with two counts of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, armed habitual criminal, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, manufacture or delivery of cannabis, possession of cannabis, two counts of unlawful use or possession of weapons or ammunition by a convicted felon, endangering the health or life of a child and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
Members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force initiated an investigation into illicit drug sales out of Price’s home in unincorporated McHenry on December 12, 2023, prosecutors said.
After obtaining a search warrant, task force officers executed a search of the home the same day, prosecutors said.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court said that Price knowingly possessed more than 15 but less than 100 grams of cocaine and fentanyl and more than 500 but not more than 2,000 grams of cannabis.
Price was also alleged to have unlawfully possessed a loaded Sig Sauer P226 pistol and several .40 caliber rounds as a convicted felon.
Price “knowingly caused or permitted multiple children under 18 years of age to be placed in circumstances that endanger the child’s life or health” when he “kept within reach and accessibility crack cocaine/fentanyl” at his residence in unincorporated McHenry, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said the children lived in the home.
Price also attempted to push his way past a McHenry County sheriff’s detective after being told he was not allowed to go past the detective, court documents said.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition following the arrest asking the court to deny Price’s pre-trial release under the SAFE-T Act, saying that Price was a “real and present threat to the safety” of others and a flight risk.
McHenry County Judge Mark Facchini granted the state’s request to deny Price’s pre-trial release.
A bench trial was held in December and concluded with McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt convicting Price on December 5 of the charges.
Gerhardt sentenced Price, who faced up to 30 years in prison, to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections during a sentencing hearing on Thursday.
McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller said that the state’s attorney’s office had previously offered Price eight years in prison in exchange for him pleading guilty to only one of the charges but he did not accept the offer, the Northwest Herald reported.
Price has filed a notice that he is appealing the sentence.
Court records show Price has several past criminal cases in McHenry County. In 2014, he was found guilty of manufacture or delivery of cocaine, a Class 1 felony, and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.