WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman accused of setting her boyfriend afire has pleaded guilty to aggravated battery.
Lake County prosecutors say 35-year-old Deborah Roberts of Antioch caused the permanent disfigurement of 43-year-old Chad Malanowski on May 17, 2015, when she poured gasoline on him and set him on fire.
Judge George Strickland on Tuesday said he approved the 12-year sentence called for in the plea deal based on accounts of the incident and mitigating factors. Roberts will be required to serve at least 85 percent of her sentence.
In exchange for Roberts’ guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of attempted murder and domestic batter. She could have faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted of all the charges at trial.
After the hearing, Malanowski called the sentence handed Roberts “a joke in my book.”
