A migrant accused of robbing two women and sexually assaulting one of them has avoided a trial after striking a deal that leaves him convicted only of one robbery. Prosecutors dropped the sexual assault charges and the second robbery case altogether after Elvis Hernandez-Pernalete entered his plea before Judge Ursula Walowski.
Walowski sentenced Hernandez-Pernalete to six years in prison. But under state law, the sentence is automatically reduced by 50 percent for good behavior, and additional credits earned while in jail make him eligible for release in December 2026, less than three years after his arrest.
In March 2024, prosecutors portrayed Hernandez-Pernalete, 29, as a public safety threat after two violent attacks within hours of each other.
According to court filings, surveillance video from both the CTA and the University of Illinois Chicago campus showed him trailing a woman from the UIC-Halsted Blue Line station on the night of March 16. When they reached the 900 block of West Harrison Street, he grabbed her from behind and dragged her to the ground. He held the victim in a leg lock while cutting off her air supply, causing her to lose consciousness, prosecutors claimed.
When she passed out, prosecutors alleged, he turned her over, stole her jewelry, and groped her body.
“[He] actually admits to the police that he believed he had killed her and [is] seen attempting to move the victim’s body,” a prosecutor said during his first court hearing. Hernandez-Pernalete fled when a witness saw what was happening.
Three hours later, authorities said, he attacked another woman after she left a Northwest Side CTA station. In that case, prosecutors said he choked the woman during a robbery attempt.
Despite the horrifying allegations laid out in early court hearings, records show Hernandez-Pernalete ultimately pleaded guilty only to robbing the first victim. The sexual assault charges were dropped and the second case was dismissed altogether.
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