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By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The sentence for Albert Rainey was withheld Friday, and his motion to have his guilty plea for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child withdrawn was denied.

Rainey, 33, pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 16 and was sentenced to 27 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on Nov. 1. The charges were made in connection with a November 2006 incident in which Rainey committed an act of sexual penetration with a 9-year-old girl. Although Rainey has pleaded guilty to the crime, he continues to maintain his innocence.

Rainey filed the appeal to the sentence and asked the court to withdraw his guilty plea in December, stating his attorney, Bob Verhines, was ineffective and the penalties Rainey received were not made with the objective of restoring him to useful citizenship.

“Defense counsel was ineffective in advising the defendant to enter a plea of guilty, suggesting that defendant would receive a lesser sentence,” the motion stated, a contention which was disputed by the prosecution and dismissed by Judge Terry Gamber on Friday.

Rainey’s mother, Linda Warren, presented testimony that she was present when Verhines discussed the open plea of guilty which Rainey entered into.

“He said if he pleaded guilty, the court could go easier and he would not get such a long sentence,” Warren testified. “It wouldn’t be more than 10 years.”

Warren said she didn’t believe Rainey fully understood the agreement.

Rainey’s attorney, Jim Henson, also said Verhines didn’t file motions in a timely manner in the case, with three motions set to be heard the day Rainey entered into his open plea of guilty on all the charges in the indictment.

“Motions have a large bearing on a case,” Henson asserted. “Mr. Rainey made a decision without the motions being heard, which placed him in a stressful situation, and placed him in a position of not having full knowledge of his case. ... The defendant is here stating he is not guilty of the offenses charged in this case.”

Special prosecutor Megan Carnine argued the 27-year sentence was “well within statutory guidelines” and that Verhines exercised a strategy in hoping for leniency from the court, but he wasn’t ineffective in defense.

“He and the defendant hoped to throw themselves on the mercy of the court and get a reduced sentence, which didn’t happen here,” Carnine said. “The defendant does not have an absolute right to withdraw a guilty plea. ... He ignored the admonishment the court read and was even asked if he understood it. ... Incorrect advice is not a reason to withdraw a plea.”

In addition, Carnine cited Supreme Court and Illinois Supreme Court cases that state, “The defendant can not be rewarded for specifically ignoring the court admonishment.”

“The defense counsel was wrong in his assessment, but not incompetent in defense of his client,” Carnine said. “Today, the defendant admitted through his attorney that they thought perhaps he would get a shorter sentence if he entered an open plea.”

Gamber, who was the trial judge on Rainey’s case, said the morning the case was set for a final pretrial conference, Verhines came to him and asked for a slight continuance to allow Rainey and his mother to view video evidence in the case, which Gamber said the court allowed to happen. When they returned from viewing the video, Rainey entered an open plea of guilty to the charges.

“The first thing I asked Mr. Rainey was whether he understood the open plea of guilty and what it meant if he accepted it,” Gamber said. “There was no discussion whatsoever in regard to sentencing.”

Gamber told Rainey in court what the possible sentences are for the Class X felony, with a regular possible sentence of six to 30 years and what the extended sentencing guidelines were if aggravating factors were found in the case.

“I told him all of his rights and he indicated he did understand them,” Gamber said. “I specifically asked him if he had been threatened, or forced in any way, or if anyone had promised him anything to get him to plead guilty, and he said no.”

Gamber said he found the guilty plea was made knowingly and voluntarily by Rainey and denied the motion to withdraw the plea. Gamber then addressed Rainey’s motion to have the court reconsider its sentencing.

Gamber said Verhines was not ineffective in representing Rainey.

“Mr. Rainey specifically acknowledged he understood what the range of sentences were,” Gamber said. “If he doesn’t feel the sentencing is justified, that does not mean he had ineffective counsel.”

The judge also found that motions in the case were filed in a timely manner, with some of the motions filed two weeks prior to the trial as motions are typically filed during a trial.

“The court is still of the opinion that 27 years was a proper sentence,” Gamber ruled. Gamber then proceeded to advise Rainey of his appeal rights in the case. Rainey has 30 days from Friday to file an appeal if he chooses to do so, according to Gamber.