A Ridgway man charged in connection with a deadly Saline County crash last year has been sentenced to prison after entering a negotiated guilty plea.
22-year-old, Jacob C. Ahrens pleaded guilty last Friday during a final pretrial hearing to one count of Aggravated DUI Involving Death, a Class 2 felony, and one count of Aggravated DUI Involving Bodily Harm, a Class 4 felony. Remaining counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Ahrens was sentenced to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, with the counts to be served concurrently. The court entered judgments of conviction and remanded Ahrens to the custody of the Saline County Sheriff for transfer to IDOC.
The charges stem from an Illinois State Police investigation into a crash reported Aug. 8, 2025, at about 1:58 a.m. on Illinois Route 34, approximately one mile west of Harco Road near Galatia. Police said Ahrens was driving a pickup truck when it left the roadway and crashed into a ditch, killing back seat passenger Mattix T. Sandifer, 20 of Ridgway and seriously injuring another passenger, Konnor C. Pemberton, 20, also of Ridgway.
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered Ahrens to pay a $10,000 fine, along with court costs and fees totaling more than $13,000. After the plea was accepted, Ahrens was taken to the Saline County Jail to await transfer to prison.
Ahrens is the son of Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Paul Ahrens.