An open choir microphone helped lead to the sentencing Monday of a Lake Zurich man to six years in prison for the burglary of a Catholic church in Barrington earlier this year.
On the day he was scheduled to go to trial, Steven Olcikas, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary to a place of worship, a Class 2 felony that carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
Judge James Booras accepted the negotiated plea presented Monday by Assistant State’s Attorney Tim Niehus and defense attorney Greg Nikitas.
The plea deal allowed Olcikas to be sentenced under a lesser range than he would have faced if convicted.
Due to prior convictions, including a 2012 theft of a tool shed at the Marytown Catholic retreat campus in Libertyville, and a 2003 armed robbery, Olcikas would have faced a Class X sentencing of six to 30 years if convicted at trial of the burglary, Niehus said.
According to officials, on the afternoon of Jan. 18, Olcikas and a co-defendant entered St. Anne’s Catholic Community Church, 120 N. Ela St. in Barrington, and used pry bars to open a closet and attempted to gain access to a safe inside that held church deposits.
But a choir microphone had been left on in the office where the two men were trying to access the safe, authorities said, which allowed the choir director, who was in another area of the church, to hear scraping sounds. Police were called, and the two were arrested at the church.
Booras said Olcikas will be given credit for time served while being held in the Lake County Jail since his arrest, and will be eligible for day-for-day good behavior credit in prison at the discretion of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The co-defendant in the case, John Ferrence, 39, of McHenry, was found guilty of burglary in a jury trial, and is awaiting pre-sentencing motion hearings and sentencing, officials said.
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