A DeKalb man was sentenced this week to 12 years in prison for a 2024 shooting outside Lord Stanley’s bar that left one man suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

DeKalb County State’s Attorney Riley Oncken said he thinks that sentence wasn’t enough, however.

Christian Rios, 25, was arrested March 12, 2024, and faced 10 felony criminal charges after police alleged that he was the one who fired a gun outside Lord Stanley’s Bar, 142 E. Lincoln Highway downtown on Feb. 5, injuring another man, according to court records.

The victim, who survived, suffered multiple wounds to his hand, upper leg, and body from one bullet fired from a 9-mm gun, police said in court records filed at the time of Rios’ arrest.

On Wednesday, DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery sentenced Rios to 12 years in prison for aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony, court records show. Rios also was sentenced to five years for possession and use of a firearm as a felon.

In a news release from his office, Oncken said he respects Montgomery but felt the sentence was “too lenient.”

“Gun crimes in DeKalb County are far too prevalent and this could have been an opportunity for the Judge to send a stronger message to juveniles and emerging adult offenders who think carrying a gun around town is a good idea,” Oncken said in a news release.

Rios must serve 85% of his sentence.

On Aug. 26, Rios entered a blind plea related to those two charges. A blind plea means it doesn’t come with a prearranged sentence through negotiations. The sentence is left up to the judge.

Rios’ sentence was not a result of any plea negotiations or agreement made by Oncken’s office, he said in a news release.

First Assistant State’s Attorney Alicia Caplan asked Montgomery to hand down 25 years to Rios, Oncken said.

Rios’ Sycamore-based attorney Brian Erwin did not respond to request for comment by press time.

Rios previously served three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty on June 13, 2018, to possession of a firearm without a FOID card and unlawful possession of a handgun with the intent to deliver, according to court records. Montgomery sentenced him on that case also.

Rios previously spent time in a court rehabilitation program, records show. He was accepted in DeKalb County’s mental health treatment court for the 2018 case, but didn’t complete it, according to an April 2024 court filing.

Oncken argued in the release that Rios’ criminal history should have led to a harsher sentence.

“There are too many guns in the hands of people who cannot legally possess them,” Oncken’s office said in a news release Wednesday. “We don’t need more gun laws, we need judges who will give longer sentences for existing gun offenses. We need to make criminals think twice about carrying illegally.”

DeKalb police previously said the shooting happened in the early morning hours of Feb. 5, 2024, when a man wearing a black ski mask got into a fight with another man outside the bar, then shot him.

Police said they used victim and witness interviews and video surveillance footage in the investigation.

Rios wasn’t the only one charged in connection to the shooting.

Christian Contreras, 27, and Anthony Lara, 23, both of DeKalb, were charged with one count each of aggravated battery and mob action.

Lara pleaded guilty on March 12, 2025, to Class 3 felony aggravated battery in a public place. Montgomery sentenced him to 2 years in the IDOC.

Contreras’ case is scheduled for a status hearing at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3, records show.