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| Robert Zajler and an accomplice were charged with invading a home near Wrigley Field. | CPD; Multiplotrr |
Two men have received very different sentences after they pleaded guilty to participating in an armed home invasion in Wrigleyville two years ago.
Robert Zajler of Des Plaines and 24-year-old William Haley were accused of attacking the 46-year-old victim as he entered his home in the 3800 block of North Clark Street around 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2017. Armed with a handgun, the two allegedly entered the victim’s home, stole his phone, and drove away in a silver car.
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| William Haley | CPD |
About 45 minutes after the home invasion, patrol officers saw Zajler and Haley step out of a vehicle that matched the robbers’ getaway car near Belmont Avenue and Clark Street. The two were stopped and subsequently identified by the victim. Police said a handgun was recovered from the men’s vehicle.
Zajler previously served a four-year prison sentence for strangling a robbery victim in the 700 block of West Brompton in Boystown in 2012.
Last Wednesday, Zajler, and Haley each pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery with a firearm. In exchange for their pleas, prosecutors dropped a series of additional felonies against each man.
Judge Nicholas Ford sentenced Zajler to eight years in prison with credit for 509 days time served. Zajler will have to serve 85% of his sentence.
On the other hand, Haley was given two years of “second chance probation” by Ford who also fined both men.
10 years for Lakeview armed robbery
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| Porter (top) and White | CPD |
A convicted felon who’s been sentenced to 22 years in prison since 2009 has now been sentenced to serve another 10 years for pistol-whipping a man and robbing the man’s girlfriend in Lakeview two years ago.
Terrance Porter, 33, pleaded guilty Monday to Class X felony armed robbery with a firearm in a plea deal approved by Judge Timothy Joyce. Porter was subsequently sentenced to serve at least 85% of a ten-year prison term with 729 days credit given for time served awaiting trial. Prosecutors dropped four other felonies in the agreement.
Porter and then-30-year-old Ashley White approached a couple on the 3300 block of North Seminary at 11 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2017.
Prosecutors said Porter struck the man in the back of the head and took the man’s wallet and cellphone as well as the woman’s purse, according to prosecutors.
Police later recovered the man’s phone outside of a liquor store in the 3200 block of West Montrose.
Investigators identified White as the woman who used the female victim’s credit card shortly after the robbery, prosecutors said.
Prior to this conviction, Porter was handed an eight-year prison sentence for burglary in 2009; three years for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a vehicle in 2010; four years for possession of electronic paraphernalia in a penal institution in 2010; and seven years for burglary in 2010.
Yet, he was released early from prison in 2015.
Joyce previously sentenced White to two years in prison for her role in the robbery.
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