A Spring Grove man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to committing a residential burglary where nine guns were stolen from a safe in Harvard.
Connor R. Freise, 31, of Spring Grove, was charged in January 2024 with residential burglary, theft, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of burglary tools and criminal damage to property.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Freise committed a residential burglary at a home in the 400 block of Andrea Court in Harvard around 7:45 p.m. on December 18, 2023.
The complaint said Freise stole nine firearms from the home that belonged to a relative of his.
The guns included a Taurus Tracker .357 handgun, a FMK 961 9mm handgun, a Smith and Wesson Victory .22 handgun, a Hi Point C9 9mm handgun, a Taurus PT92 9mm handgun, a CROL 12g shotgun, a M&P Shield AR-15 .223 rifle, a war surplus SKS rifle and a HOWA 1500 shotgun.
The complaint said Freise damaged the victim’s gun safe while possessing multiple tools suitable for breaking into a building and a gun safe.
The victim came home and saw an exterior window cracked open, according to McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Sophia Dinkel. He went into the house and saw a lamp on the floor.
The victim went into his bedroom closet where he saw his safe lying face down on the ground, with a hammer and a pry bar lying next to it, Dinkel said.
The back of the safe was bent open and the nine firearms were missing.
Dinkel said a witness reported she saw Freise going into the victim’s house and coming back out with multiple firearms.
Cell phone location data showed he was in the Harvard area at the time, despite telling the victim he was in Wisconsin, Dinkel said.
Freise was on parole at the time for residential burglary and has a significant criminal history with multiple burglary and residential burglary cases.
Freise was arrested in late January 2024 and transported to the McHenry County Jail where a judge ordered him detained pending trial.
Court records show Freise pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony, in exchange for an eight-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The other charges against Freise were dismissed and McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis approved the plea deal.
The sentence will be served at 50% in accordance with truth-in-sentencing guidelines.
He will also receive 480 days of credit for time served awaiting trial.
Freise was additionally ordered to pay restitution to the burglary victim in the amount of $6,588.