Jim McFarland, Repeat Drunk Driver, Gets Sentenced

JOLIET, IL - Jim McFarland, who was arrested by the Illinois State Police on charges of drunken driving during the summer of 2016, appeared in front of Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin on Thursday morning to learn his sentence. In April, a Will County jury of McFarland's peers found him guilty of drunken driving during the early morning hours of July 10, 2016. He had fought the case, but the Will County State's Attorney's Office presented the jury with powerful evidence of McFarland's guilt. Several months after his DUI, McFarland resigned in the middle of his term on the Joliet City Council.

McFarland turns 39 next week.

At Thursday's sentencing, criminal prosecutors urged Judge Gavlin to make McFarland spend five straight days inside the Will County Jail. They reminded the judge that McFarland is a repeat offender. He was convicted in 2003 in Champaign County of drunken driving, according to Thursday's testimony.

However, McFarland's criminal defense attorney, George Lenard, who is one of Will County's leading DUI lawyers, persuaded the judge not to send his client to the county jail.

Lenard stressed that there were no "aggravating factors" surrounding McFarland's latest DUI offense, from 2016. Lenard also argued it has been "almost 17 years since" McFarland's first DUI arrest.

Judge Gavlin sided with the defense lawyer's position.

"It was a very significant amount of time that passed," she informed the courtroom.

Besides being spared jail time, however, McFarland was placed on 12 months of conditional discharge by the court. He was ordered to perform 240 hours of community service at a non-profit agency, and he must attend all counseling that is court-mandated including a victim impact panel.

Patch will update this story later today to determine what sanctions will be imposed regarding McFarland's driving privileges in the state of Illinois.

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Image via Joliet Patch Files