A Creston woman was sentenced to five years in prison Friday, March 13, for causing a fatal crash that claimed the life of an Addison man in June 2022.

Amy Anthenat, 50, received the sentence from Ogle County Judge Clayton Lindsey after pleading guilty in October to the Class 4 felony of aggravated driving under the influence, with cocaine detected in her urine.

The charge stemmed from a 3:48 p.m. June 19, 2022, crash at the intersection of Mulford Road and state Route 64, when Anthenat, who was northbound on Mulford Road, pulled out in front of Richard Andrews, 61, Addison, who was driving his motorcycle east on state Route 64.

Anthenat admitted to the offense through an “open plea” – without a negotiated plea agreement – leaving Lindsey to determine her sentence based on testimony, arguments, and information presented during a Feb. 11 sentencing hearing.

At that hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Kruse agued that Anthenat should be sentenced to prison as a deterrent to others.

Anthenat’s attorney, Eric Arnquist, argued for a sentence of probation, citing Anthenat’s remorse for the accident, arguing that she was not under the influence of cocaine when the crash occurred and had no criminal history.

“I want everyone to know this has not been an easy decision for the court,” said Lindsey. “Regardless of what sentence the court imposes, there will be those that find it too harsh, and those that find it too lenient. It is important to note that the issue in this case and the sentence to be imposed has nothing to do with impairment.”

He said the state statute creates an “absolute bar” in driving a motor vehicle with any amount of illegal drug detected in a person’s blood or urine.

“Cocaine is one of those illegal drugs. The defendant has admitted that cocaine was in her blood or urine at the time she drove her vehicle on June 19, 2022. It makes no difference if she ingested that cocaine on June 19, the night before or the week before,” said Lindsey.

Anthenat testified she had used cocaine at a wedding the weekend prior to the accident. During her allocution – her right to speak before sentencing – Anthenat turned to Andrews’s family and friends who were in the courtroom and tearfully apologized.

Lindsey said he did believe that Anthenat was remorseful and understood the “gravity of her misjudgment” and that it was unlikely she would commit any other “significant crime in the future” and would likely comply with the terms of probation.

But, he said, there was no question that Anthenat’s conduct resulted in Andrews’ death.

“He was a 60-year old-man and was entering the golden years in which he and his wife were supposed to be enjoying the fruits of their life,” Lindsey said. “He anticipated spending the remainder of his life, watching his children and his grandchildren grow.

“The degree and the loss of this family is something the court must consider. It is not lost on this court that June 19, 2022, was Father’s Day. The day in which children and grandchildren are to celebrate their dads and grandpas. This day of celebration will be forever a day of mourning for the Andrews family.”

Lindsey also said the prison sentence was needed to deter others from driving with illegal drugs in their system.

“Despite the unlikelihood of the defendant repeating her behavior, the sentence must signal that the courts take the use of illegal drugs seriously and must cause others to consider the potentially disastrous consequences of using drugs and making the decision to drive a motor vehicle during the time it could still be in their system,” he said.

“The court finds that a sentence of probation following an incident that caused such serious harm, not only to Richard Andrews, but to his surviving family members, would deprecate the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct and would not be consistent with the end of justice.”

Anthenat has no credit for time served and must serve 85% of the sentence – 51 months. She will be subject to 12 months mandatory supervised release (parole) following her release from prison.

She remains free on bond and is scheduled to report to the Ogle County Jail on April 29 for processing. She has 30 days to appeal Lindsey’s ruling.

Feb. 11 sentencing testimony recap

Anthenat testified she was driving a “farm truck” from one field to another when she didn’t see Andrews on his motorcycle. She said she was trying to block the sun with her hand and started to go through the intersection when Andrews saw her vehicle and she saw Andrews.

“He saw me and I saw his scared face. He laid it [the motorcycle] down … falling backwards, so I stopped. I didn’t want to run over him if he was close to the truck,” she tearfully testified.

She said she ran to Andrews, who was lying in the middle of the road, but she could not find a pulse. She called 911 while two passersby performed CPR on Andrews.

“If I could have saved him, I would have. I didn’t want that to happen to him,” Anthenat said, choking back tears. “I close my eyes and I see [the crash] every day. I see Mr. Andrews. I see his face. I can’t get over that vision in my head.”

Anthenat said she is fully employed as an instructor at Kishwaukee College and also works part time in the radiology department for UW Health.

Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Kruse argued that Anthenat chose to ingest cocaine and drive a vehicle and Andrews’ death was entirely her fault.

Defense attorney Eric Arnquist said Anthenat had led her entire life as law-abiding and had not used cocaine since the crash.

“She went through a great deal of trauma and she went out and got counseling on her own,” Arnquist said. “She has a positive report from her counselor. There is absolutely no reason she would not continue to be successful on probation.”

He also said a sentence of probation would allow Anthenat to continue working and provide much-needed insurance for her injured son, as well as allow her to care for him and help with his medical needs.

Arnquist acknowledged that the Andrews’ family had also been “horrifically” injured, but said a prison sentence would not “fix” anything.