Woman who went to Woodstock home for ‘companionship,’ then robbed man with accomplice, gets probation

A Loves Park woman has been sentenced to two years of probation in a plea deal after she was accused of invading a Woodstock home last year with a man who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the same crime.

Carley K. West, 29, entered a guilty plea Thursday before Judge Mark Gerhardt to one count of theft of more than $500, according to court documents. The guilty plea includes a sentence of two years of so-called “second-chance” probation and 30 hours of public service. West also was ordered to pay more than $1,700 in fines and fees.

West originally was charged with armed robbery and home invasion, both Class X felonies, as well as residential burglary and attempted armed robbery, according to a criminal indictment.

Calvin Jackson, 29, of Rockford, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in September after being convicted by a jury of home invasion and armed robbery, each a Class X felony, as well as attempted armed robbery, McHenry County court records show.

Jackson was accused of arranging for West to go to the man’s Woodstock home for “companionship,” local police have said. Jackson entered the man’s “home uninvited, threatened him with a dangerous weapon [and] held the victim by threat of deadly force until the victim was able to escape,” according to a judge’s order that Jackson be detained while he awaited trial.

Jackson and West each were accused of entering the man’s home “without authority” and threatening him with a knife. The victim was older than 60, which enhanced the charges. West and Jackson also were accused of stealing an Apple iPhone and personal identification documents, according to the complaints filed by Woodstock police.

“The victim and West arranged a meeting through electronic means; the victim did not know Jackson,” Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said last year. “The arrangement was for companionship. There was a ruse when West asked the victim if Jackson could use the restroom. However, Jackson had already surreptitiously entered the residence, and then a struggle ensued.”

The 74-year-old man from whom Jackson and West stole wrote an impact statement that was read in court by Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito during Jackson’s sentencing hearing. He said he “was attacked by a man with a knife in my home ... a man I had never met who threatened me with a knife and demanded a substantial amount of money.”

The man said he was able to escape his home physically unharmed and that he did not lose any money. However, he did not “escape unharmed.” The incident, he said, caused him to be nervous and tense when his dog “suddenly starts barking and running to the windows ... in the middle of the night.” He said he has to “get up and check that my doors are secure.”

“My life will never be the same,” he wrote in the letter. “My home will never be the safe place it was. That is now something that is gone forever, no matter where I call home.”