Huntley man takes plea deal in fatal overdose case weeks before trial

A man accused of delivering a fatal dose of heroin in December 2016 in Lake in the Hills was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

Terrance Kampas, 28, of the 10400 block of North Church Street, Huntley, was accused of giving heroin to a 26-year-old man.

Arrested in January 2017, Kampas originally was charged with drug-induced homicide and possession of a controlled substance.

The case was scheduled to go to trial April 16. If Kampas had been convicted of drug-induced homicide, he would have faced up to 30 years in prison for the Class X felony.

Instead, Kampas accepted a plea deal for delivery of a controlled substance, which was agreed upon by his attorney, McHenry County Assistant Public Defender Kim Messer, and Assistant State’s Attorney Victor Escarcida.

He will receive credit for time served since Jan. 30, 2017, and he must serve 50 percent of his sentence.

Kampas could fulfill his prison sentence in one year and three months before serving two years on parole.

“Mr. Kampas is happy to resolve his case,” Messer said. “It gives him a sense of finality, and it allows him to move on with his life and raise his children.”

The amended charge Kampas pleaded to carries a heftier penalty than the original offense, but it still is far fewer years than he could have been required to serve for a drug-induced homicide conviction.

On April 10, 2016, Lake in the Hills police were called to a home on Turnberry Court for a report of an unresponsive man. The man, Travis Hugo, later was declared dead.

Kampas graduated from McHenry County drug court in May 2015.

The specialty court allowed Kampas to serve his sentence by receiving treatment.

Kampas was one of nine people to face drug-induced homicide charges in 2017. It is common for people facing the charge to plead guilty to a lower-level offense.

Of the 25 people charged since 2003, some were convicted of other charges, such as involuntary manslaughter, but only five have been convicted of drug-induced homicide.