Probation for driver who struck Ottawa High School

A motorist who struck Ottawa High School with her car while intoxicated was sentenced Friday to 48 months of probation plus time served.

Jennifer N. Leonard, 53, of Ottawa, however, won a key concession from her sentencing judge. Although prosecutors opposed it, Leonard was placed on TASC probation – which stands for treatment accountability for safer communities – and could someday have the conviction expunged from her record.

She also can keep her license.

Her fate is in her hands now.”

—  La Salle County State's Attorney Joe Navarro

“I want to say I’m sorry for what happened,” Leonard said while weeping when offered a chance to speak.

She said she is employed, seeking mental health treatment and “can be a productive member of society, and that’s all I’ve ever tried to be.”

Leonard could have faced up to seven years in prison for ramming her car into a door accessible from the high school’s west side parking lot, causing $72,000 in damage, on Aug. 21, 2022. The door feeds into the school’s 100 level.

Leonard admitted to police that she had been drinking in the parking lot and remembered putting the vehicle into drive.

She was in the midst of an acrimonious divorce from her estranged husband at the time.

Leonard was charged with DUI soon after the single-vehicle crash, in which she was injured, and later was charged with criminal damage to government-supported property. She entered a blind plead Aug. 9 in La Salle County Circuit Court.

Leonard had no criminal history of note – only a handful of petty moving violations – and prosecutors did not request prison time at Friday’s sentencing hearing.

Instead, Assistant La Salle County State’s Attorney Jeremiah Adams argued for straight felony probation and not TASC probation, a distinction that would have precluded expungement and kept Leonard’s conviction on the books.

Adams also asked that Leonard’s license be revoked.

Adams called the threat to the community “pretty darn high,” even though the incident occurred on a Sunday, when students and faculty were not present.

He said society has “an obligation to keep our schools safe.”

“These crimes need to stay on her record, and she should lose her license,” Adams said. “I could not be more emphatic about that.”

Peru defense attorney Douglas Olivero said denying Leonard TASC probation would fly in the face of the legislature’s intent to rehabilitate whenever possible.

Leonard, Olivero said, had more than earned the shot thanks to a career in service to others and the fact that mental health issues were a driving force in the crash.

“She’s never been in trouble at all,” Olivero said. “So this is kind of an aberration.”

Judge Cynthia M. Raccuglia agreed and sentenced Leonard to TASC probation and declined to revoke her license.

Although the sentence includes six months in jail, Leonard had accrued 263 days of pretrial credit. She must continue with mental health treatment and make a $2,500 restitution payment to meet the school’s insurance deductible.

“This incident was truly horrific, but it is the only aggravating factor in this case,” the judge said. “And as a result of that, I believe she is entitled to help from the justice system.”

After the hearing, La Salle County State’s Attorney Joe Navarro said that if Leonard commits any probation violations, his office would file a petition to revoke her probation and seek a prison sentence.

“Her fate is in her hands now,” Navarro said.