Chicago man sentenced to eight-year jail term in Plano fleeing, eluding police incident

A 17-time convicted felon, Jody Skowronski, 42, of the 5000 block of Roscoe Street, Chicago, has been sentenced to an eight-year jail term in connection with a fleeing and eluding incident that occurred in Plano in 2019.

In a statement issued Thursday, Jan. 14, Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said Skowronski entered a guilty plea in October 2020 to charges of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, a Class 3 felony, and driving while license revoked, a Class 4 felony.

Chief Court Court Judge Robert Pilmer sentenced Skowronski following a contested sentencing hearing at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville.

In his statement, Weis said the incident that led to Skowronski’s arrest occurred in August of 2019 when a Plano police officer observed Skowronski commit a traffic violation. When the officer attempted to pull Skowronski’s vehicle over, he accelerated away from the officer, driving at a high rate of speed in a 30 mile-per-hour residential zone and through stop signs seven times without stopping, all while multiple cars were on the roadway. Skowronski then drove his car through a bean field, got out of his car, and ran away on foot, according to the statement.

Plano police spoke with the passenger of his vehicle, the owner of the bean field, and obtained surveillance video of Skowronski earlier in the day and determined that Skowronski was the driver of the vehicle.

According to the statement, Skowronski’s license was suspended and revoked for seven different reasons, including two DUI-related suspensions and three revocations for aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer. In addition, Skowronski had just been released from prison on parole hours before he fled from the Plano officer.

Under Illinois law, Skowronski is required to serve 50% of his eight-year year term in the Illinois Department of Corrections before he will be required to serve one year of mandatory supervised release.

Skowronski is a 17-time convicted felon, the statement notes.

Weis commended Plano police for their work on the case.

“This defendant has shown ultimate disrespect for the law and the safety of the citizens of Kendall County. Thanks to the hard work of the members of the Plano Police Department in keeping dangerous drivers like Skowronski off of the streets of Kendall County,” Weis said in the statement.

Weis and Assistant State’s Attorney Meghan Jirasek prosecuted the case. Attorney Alison Motta represented Skowronski.