May 17, 2024
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Harvard man gets total of 12 years for jailhouse attack, shooting at home

20-year-old to serve two terms consecutively

By Emily K. Coleman
Inset of Juan C. Popoca, 19, in front of the Northwest Herald file of the McHenry County courthouse.

Inset of Juan C. Popoca in front of the Northwest Herald file of the McHenry County courthouse. (Inset provided by McHenry County Sheriff's Office)

A Harvard man has pleaded guilty to shooting a gun at a Harvard home and using a pencil to stab another McHenry County Jail inmate, court records show.

Juan C. Popoca, 20, was sentenced April 5 to 12 years in prison – 10 years for aggravated discharge of a firearm and two for aggravated battery in a public place, according to McHenry County court records.

Popoca was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm after police responded about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 29, 2021, to a home in the 700 block of West Metzen Street for numerous calls about multiple shots being fired, according to a news release from the Harvard Police Department at the time.

A Harvard home was shot multiple times, but nobody inside was injured, according to the release.

Andrew Calderon IV

Andrew Calderon IV (Provided by McHenry County Sheriff's Office)

Also charged in the shooting was Andrew Calderon IV, 31, of Harvard, who was indicted on charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and possession of a firearm as a felon. His case is ongoing.

Popoca’s attorney declined to comment. Attempts to reach Calderon’s attorney Friday were unsuccessful.

Walter Rain Moran

Walter Rain Moran (Provided by McHenry County Sheriff's Office )

In May 2022, while in custody at the McHenry County Jail, Popoca was charged, along with Walter R. Moran, with stabbing another detainee with a pencil and striking him “several times with his fists and knee,” according to the indictment.

Both men were charged with mob action and aggravated battery in a public place. The case against Moran, 29, of Cicero, is ongoing.

An attempt to reach Moran’s attorney Friday was unsuccessful.

Popoca must serve at least 85% of his 10-year sentence and 50% of his two-year sentence, according to the sentencing orders. He will receive credit for the 492 days he’s spent in custody since his Nov. 30, 2021, arrest for the aggravated discharge of a firearm case and 326 days for the aggravated battery.

Once released, he must spend 2½ years total on mandatory supervised release.

In August 2021, Popoca also was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon for carrying a handgun without a firearm owner’s identification card, criminal trespass to a building, possession of a firearm and ammunition without a FOID card, and resisting a police officer.

Those charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal. The charge of mob action in the aggravated battery case also was dismissed.