Wonder Lake man convicted in 2008 boat crash that killed McHenry grad gets 1 year in jail for recent DUI

A Wonder Lake man was sentenced to one year in McHenry County jail on a misdemeanor conviction of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, despite prosecutors' arguments he should be sentenced under felony guidelines.

Ricky McGuire, 69, had initially been charged with aggravated DUI and faced 3 to 7 years in prison. Prosecutors said this was his third DUI-related offense.

But following much wrangling in court, McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt ruled that, although McGuire was convicted in a fatal drunken boating accident in 2010, that was not the same offense under Illinois law as driving a vehicle while drunk.

Therefore, the most recent DUI is considered to be his second DUI and not third. A third DUI conviction would have raised the offense to a Class 2 felony. In addition to the current DUI, which he was charged with in 2022, and the fatal boating accident in 2008 in which a 21-year-old woman was killed, McGuire was convicted of drunken driving in 1989, court records show.

On May 28, 2022, a deputy with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office discovered McGuire in his vehicle, which had crashed into a fence surrounding a home in Wonder Lake, police said. McGuire was not injured but was taken to the hospital, where a blood test showed he had a blood-alcohol concentration of .354, according to records filed in McHenry County court. The legal limit is .08.

McGuire was sentenced and taken into custody Jan. 29. He is required to serve just half his jail term and will be released in July, according to the sentencing order in the McHenry County court. The sentencing order also shows that McGuire completed a substance abuse program in May.

The fatal boat crash occurred just after midnight on July 6, 2008, on Wonder Lake. The crash killed Nicole Jurgens, of Wisconsin, according to the 2008 indictment filed in McHenry County court. She was a graduate of McHenry High School West Campus, according to an online obituary. She was described as someone who enjoyed animals, fishing and caring for young children, “especially the exceptional child.”

In an email Jurgens' family expressed disappointment in the sentence.

“I guess the moral of the story is that if you are going to drive drunk and kill somebody, do it while driving a boat,” Jurgens' uncle Doug Stitt said. “The State Legislature based on the laws they have passed, have made it very clear that they don’t consider Operating a Watercraft while intoxicated as serious as Driving Under the Influence.”

McGuire’s attorney, Frank Quatrino, said this was a “unique situation.” The judge had to sentence McGuire based on the way the statute as written, which indicates a “watercraft” does not fall under the definition of a “vehicle,” he said.

Quatrino said McGuire’s last drink was the day he was arrested. He has since completed substance abuse counseling and followed all the rules of his pretrial release. He tested negative on random screenings for alcohol and drugs and showed up to all court appearances. Additionally, though eligible a year after his arrest to get his driver’s license back, he did not, Quatrino said.

“He chose on his own he didn’t want to drive again,” Quatrino said.

Quatrino, who asked for the minimum sentence of seven days in jail, said he understands Jurgens' family’s feelings and regrets the pain this likely dredged up. However, the judge had to follow the statute.

“The judge gave him as much as he possibly could under those circumstances,” Quatrino said.