An Oakwood Hills man who prosecutors say deliberately ran over his wife three times with his car during an argument outside their home has been sentenced to 18 years in Illinois state prison. Pablo Contreras, 51, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced on Tuesday, November 3, by McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt, according to McHenry County State's Attorney Randi L. Freese and local reporting by the Lake & McHenry County Scanner.

The attack happened on May 22 in Oakwood Hills, a village in McHenry County northwest of Chicago. According to the State's Attorney's account, Contreras was arguing with his wife outside their residence — a dispute that court documents cited in local reporting say centred on the disclosure of his wife's inheritance — when he got into his 2020 Volkswagen Jetta, shifted into reverse and deliberately drove toward her, striking her with the car.

Prosecutors say he did not stop there. He shifted the vehicle into drive and ran over his wife again — three passes in total, according to the reporting — and then left the scene, leaving her in the roadway with life-threatening injuries while she screamed, the State's Attorney said.

Her injuries, as listed by prosecutors, were devastating: a broken clavicle, a fractured elbow, a broken sternum, multiple fractured ribs, a shattered pelvis and a fractured sacrum. No updated condition for her was included in the sentencing reporting, and she is not named in it — Awaaz Punjab is not naming her either.

State's Attorney Freese described the case in stark terms, saying Contreras ran over his own wife, ignored her screams and abandoned her in the street with devastating injuries. That characterisation is the prosecution's; Contreras's guilty plea admitted the attempted-murder charge, and the other counts against him were dismissed under the plea agreement.

Five felonies filed, one plea, eighteen years

The investigation had resulted in five felony charges and one misdemeanour against Contreras. Under the plea agreement, every charge except attempted first-degree murder was dismissed. The 18-year sentence was imposed on that single count on Tuesday.

Under Illinois sentencing rules for this offence, Contreras must serve at least 85 percent of the 18 years before he is eligible for release — more than 15 years — and will then serve three years of mandatory supervised release. The sentence will be served in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

What this case is — and is not — in the record

Everything in the public sentencing record comes from the prosecution's account and the court documents cited by local reporting: the May 22 argument, the inheritance dispute reported as its trigger, the three passes with the Jetta, and the injury list. No defence statement was carried in the sentencing reporting, and no motive beyond the reported inheritance argument has been established in court. The guilty plea, however, is a conviction — not an allegation — and the attempted-murder finding is now final unless appealed.

What happens next is administrative rather than courtroom drama: Contreras will be transferred into state custody to begin the sentence, the dismissed counts are closed under the plea, and his supervised-release term will follow his prison time. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if the victim's condition or any appeal is reported by the court or the State's Attorney's office.