An Elgin man is the second person to be sent to prison in a 2012 home invasion in which two victims were badly beaten.

Kane County Circuit Judge Clint Hull on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, sentenced 32-year-old Jamie Zarate to 28 years’ imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

A Kane County jury on April 25, 2018, convicted Zarate of 2 counts attempted first-degree murder, Class X felony, and 2 counts home invasion, Class X felony.

Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Mark D. Stajdohar and Joseph Gay presented evidence that at about 3:20 a.m. June 23, 2012, Zarate and his co-defendant, 30-year-old Modesto Rosales, also of Elgin, kicked in the front door of a residence in the 400 block of Raymond Street, Elgin. Zarate and Rosales then beat the victims, a male and a female with fists, a clothes iron, a computer monitor and a wooden chair.

The victims suffered very serious injuries, including deep cuts and broken teeth, to the face, head, neck and arms. The victims suffered permanent scarring all over their bodies as a result of the attack.

The female victim was Rosales’ former girlfriend and the male victim was her new boyfriend. The young son of the female victim and Rosales witnessed part of the attack.

Zarate was on parole for a 2006 attempted murder conviction at the time.

The sentence is 16 years for the attempted murder of the male victim, 6 years for the attempted murder of the female victim, and 6 years for the home invasion. The terms are to be served consecutive to one another because the judge found that the victims suffered great bodily injury. The sentence for the male victim is more severe because his injuries were more severe.

In addition, Judge Hull ordered Zarate to pay $15,000 in restitution to the victims.

According to Illinois law Zarate must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. He receives credit for 793 days served in the Kane County jail.
Rosales on Dec. 5, 2013, agreed to a sentence of 17 years’ imprisonment in exchange for a guilty plea to home invasion, Class X felony, and aggravated battery, Class 3 felony.

“This was a brutal and nearly deadly attack, and that’s clearly what Mr. Zarate intended. He has proven through his violent and criminal behavior that he belongs in prison. My thanks to the Elgin Police Department for their work in this investigation, and to ASAs Stajdohar and Gay for this successful prosecution,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.