A Wonder Lake man who was convicted decades ago of murdering his wife – and who was cleared last year of domestic violence – has admitted guilt to a new charge of domestic abuse.

Charles Gozzola, 51, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of domestic battery causing bodily harm, a Class A misdemeanor, according to authorities and court records. He was sentenced to 153 days in the county jail, required to be served in full, but is getting credit for 27 days spent in the jail since his arrest Nov. 13, according to jail and court records.

In 2002, Gozzola was convicted of fatally shooting his wife, Cook County records show; he was sentenced to 30 years in prison but served a lesser term. Last year, he was found not guilty by Judge Mark Gerhardt of domestic battery charges stemming from an incident in a parking lot in Crystal Lake.

During the trial, prosecutors were not allowed to play recorded phone calls made from the jail to the woman Gozzola had been accused of battering. Prosecutors asserted the calls showed Gozzola’s propensity for violence, harassment and intimidation toward the woman. During that trial, the woman took the stand and said she was not afraid of Gozzola nor did he abuse her.

During Gozzola’s initial court appearance Nov. 13 in the current case, Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret O’Brien addressed the 2024 acquittal saying, “just because he was found not guilty does not mean it did not happen. It just means the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

In finding Gozzola not guilty in that case, Gerhardt said he did not consider the man’s earlier second-degree murder conviction. Gozzola chose to have a judge, rather than a jury, decide the verdict in that case.

Regarding the current case, O’Brien said the woman told authorities Gozzola had “threatened to kill her, threatened to harm her, threatened to kill himself and prevented her from leaving,” the prosecutor said. The woman said she “sometimes feels she is in danger” and that Gozzola “takes away her phone and stops her from leaving.” In the hours after his arrest, O’Brien said, Gozzola made 51 “harassing” phone calls to the woman.

O’Brien also noted Cook County charges of domestic violence involving a different woman, for which Gozzola was acquitted in 2019.

In 2002, Gozzola pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife, Cook County records show.

That stemmed from the 2000 death of Gozzola’s wife Beth Gozzola, who was shot in the back of her head in their home near Northbrook. Charles Gozzola was charged with first-degree murder of his wife but pleaded down to second-degree murder.