21 year old tough guy huh? My guess is his high school record was not squeeky clean either. Tough lessons in life, the poor kid is in a wheelchair the rest of his life, at least Messina can walk after his prison term.

Same BS from his dad and sister. They are always the "best kid" the "kindest guy" oh boohoo. Be a man and go do your 5 years. Loser

I wonder if the kid from St Louis can be charged. Trying to drum up "reasonable "doubt". I'm glad that BS trick didnt work.

Excuse me but f*#k you Mr. Messina. "Ludicrous" you say??? What ludicrous is YOUR son hit a kid after he was down and raised his arms in victory. Ludicrous is Eric's entire life being takin away and his boy growing up with a father that is a shadow of his former self. Ludicrous is you bitching about your son having to serve a sentence while the mother across the aisle has a blind and paralyzed son. He DID IT! Raised his arms, hid in a van, already had blood on his shirt, and was seen by NEUTRAL witnesses. So glad fancy lawyer trivks didn't win out in this one. Again, no sympothy for you and shame on the "friends" who came forward to try did get your convict son off the hook by lying. The whole thing stinks of dirty lawyer tactics.

MD, Well said....

odds r he wont get 5 and will b out within 2. OUCH!

This should be a lesson for everyone out there who thinks drunken bar fights are just that. Not every time someone walks away. Look at how many lives have been impacts. Multiple families - especially Eric's son. This burden is so great that please, please, please tell everyone and remind them to not act foolishly.

People who comment either way without having been there are reacting out of love for the person they favor. Yes I know one of the members of this situation but do not know the entire story. Drinking leads to bad things for everyone in these situations. It is all very sad. Both lives will be forever affected.

There was never any doubt that Messina did this cowardly act. They thought they could blame the friend and get off because the statue if limitations ran out on him so he couldn't be prosecuted.

A desperate act by a bunch of losers including the defense lawyer.

I believe that there is more to it. I doubt that Joe is the responsible party, but someone has to pay the crime. Looks like a cover up for the St. Louis kid to me.

You don't know what happened and you don't know these people. I know them all and Messina is actually a good guy. I played football and knew them both growing up. I heard since day one that mike did it and not joe. So to all of you losers with nothing better to do then slam people on a message board, realize justice isn't always served. O.j. Was also innocent.

The glove didn't fit

5 years is a slap on the wrist, given what this punk did. His family's reaction is telling, no accountability for one's actions. They helped form what their little darling has become.
And independent witnesses IDed Messina as well, so I don't buy the 'other guy did it" defense.

It all comes down to who's being sued .. The bars guilty bad security and over served patrons . Messinas the fall guy nothin more .

Just a bar fight ! Nothin more . seen many and no they are never just one persons fault..

No winners here, kids. Maybe Messina can take up boxing in his spare time with his new friends.

So i guess the guy that got beat up was sober and just standing there. The other guy is not going to jail,the judge knows the other guy just happens to be the guy that lost. He could of been the one that started it and what cause hes in a wheel chair hes a saint....no way. It takes two. He didnt just walk up and punch him.

You have 3 people ID Messina that did not know either party and one best friend of the accused saying someone else really did it. And this best friend doesn't say that for 3 1/2 years. Let me think which is more believable . I would wonder about the best friend who let Messina sit in jail for 2 months and pay an Attorney THOUSANDS of dollars and still waits THREE AND ONE HALF YEARS TO TELL ANYONE THIS. Not much of a friend is he?

There are families that read things and it's disgusting to see how people talk abt things they know nothing abt. It isn't fair for someone to say its justice when it's against the wrong guy. Everyone wants to Take their anger out on someone so joes the easy target. How about people do their jobs and find the real criminal and not pin it on someone. No one proved him guilty. And for u people to act like u know what happened I'll have to ask... Where u there? Why would someone plead the 5th before messina even had a lawyer? And I understand what happened to Eric is unfortunate. But could it have been the other way around and messina be in the wheel chair and Eric incarcerated? No one intended for this to happen. Mike was looking out for a friend but can not now confess to his guilt. So if u can say ur happy joe is found guilty... It's sick. There's too much doubt in te case and clearly another party involved.

Right.... He approached messina from across the lot. Messinas witness said joe was in his arms when Eric went down. So falling and throwing that hard of a punch is pretty difficult dont u think.

Unbelievable. 5 years for being at the scene of a fight.Crazy. This trial was a witch-hunt all along. Bartel's wanted justice and it didnt matter who it was.(By the way you should be mad at Mokena PD for what a botched investgation they did. Taxpayers money hard at work over there.) I understand that, but wouldnt you want the right guy? Cause in my opinion, with everything i've heard,seen and read, you didnt. Eric's life is gone, Joe's life is screwed and the guy that actually threw the punch got away scott free. Blind justice. But as everyone says these days, it is what it is. And with that being said our prisions are way way over-crowded, Illinois has no
money. A friend of mine was randomly stabbed about 5 years ago. The guy also stole a car after he stabbed him. He was caught,sentenced to 18 years, he was out in 4 YEARS. So it is what it is, I will see you again very soon Mr. Messina but tomorrow Eric's will wake up and still be in his wheelchair.

Messina seems to have had the urge to display to much testosterone. Bet he wishes he would have just walked away. Guess he was just to immature to do that. At least now he will have some time to think about what is right and wrong so next time he will make a better decision. As for Eric, yes his life will be forever changed unfortunately and no amount of time served for Messina will ever change that but come on... Five Years? Talk about a slap on the wrist. Despicable!!!

ED,

Your right she's not. But yours is.

Do you know what is ludicrous Joe Messina, Sr. ????? That your son is only getting 5 years, if that, and someone else is going to be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. I have friends that were in 191 South that night, not young guys out partying on their birthday, but 30+ something friends who witnessed how drunk and disorderly Joe was before he even went out to the parking lot that night. Justice was served today, by a Judge, but 5 years isn't long enough for someone to serve for what they have done. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it Joe, Sr.? You had a horrible reputation on the SW side of Chicago when you were that age too - you also had the temper.

I think that you guys should all grow the fuck up its called LIFE shit like this happens everyday for ppl and do we give a shit NOPE. All i can say is that it was a freak accident....i feel bad for both families but dont act like both your kids werent acting like heathens i think both are to blame.

TALK SHIT GET HIT!!!!!! #TRU #manDOWN

Another moron who let beer balls ruin his life and the life of someone he attacked just to show how tough he was. Have fun in jail dipwad, and don't drop the soap!!!

Lots of opinions,but some facts,1)the prosecution were the ones delaying the case so that kills the 3 year theory was a defense tactic,2)someone replied hearsay,well isn't that how they convicted Peterson?3)(As someone mentioned the lawsuit),to the person who replied it was B.S.,well there are at least 3 parties who may be sued4)the 1 person was right, it was ludicrous for 5 years to an innocent person.much more but I'm just going to continue praying for both families.

When did he get sentenced to five years? March came and went already?

They said that this guy out of no where walked up to him and punched him? No argument before the punch? Its a question before you people start freakin out remember im askin not telling. One of you have to know since you were all there. Did he really just walk up and punch him for no reason?

People wanna fight then someone gets their but kicked really good all of a sudden its like oh poor guy who lost the fight. Yes i said lost. Go ahead and cry people. Your the ones that got bullied in school. Sorry im not politacly correct mabey you can ban me.

That Glielmi threw the first punch has been alleged since day one. This is not a concocted story made up by the defense. You need only look at the old Patch article comments to verify this. I heard from three different people, within days of this incident, that Eric was giving Joe crap about the blood on his shirt and Glielmi sucker punched him After Eric landed on the pavement, Joe then jumped on top and punched him, with the well documented "arms raised in triumph." While Joe might be guilty of simple battery and being drunk and stupid, he did not throw the punch that put Eric in this very sad condition. My thoughts and prayers are to both families.

Don, you need to relax. Your probably a friend of Eric. Both families lost that night not just your friend. Just because Erics life is changed forever, and it is awful, doesn't mean he was just an innocent bystander. Just like some of these other smart people have said, it takes two. Just one side lost big time. Freak accident. So channel your anger somewhere else because blasting someone on a blog does nothing for Eric. Maybe focus on Something more productive.

I think Illinois should make assault fists illegal. That would put a stp to senseless crimes like this. Better yet, all semi-auto fists.

James Madison and pro streeter are more interested in Illinois approving gay marriage so they can come out of the closet already!

All I know is Eric was always a punk in high school and as I read this story up until that night it didn't change much. I guess he finally messed with the wrong kid and got what he has given many over the years an ass whooping don't make Eric out to be innocent his track record of fights and altercations will tell you it wasn't unprovoked he had something to say and I'm sure he got in his face and talked s--t. I don't know joe or mike but I know Eric and that kid was a piece of shit and am sick of people saying he was an innocent victim because people that really know him know that couldn't be true. And as much as I hated Eric in high school I feel bad that he's that messed up but as the story goes you play with fire eventually your gonna get burned

See like i said that dude cant be 100% innocent. It takes two to fight. He could of walked away but he was a bad a@@ he was talkin smack back and got smacked and now in a wheel chair. If you dnt wanna get beat up then walk away. I used to fight all the time and even when i lost i didnt want the other person to get in trouble cause i new what could happen.

Sometimes I really wonder what is wrong with people. What happened to Eric is horrible and I think and pray for his little boy and his family who will forever be changed by this tragic event. I also feel and pray for Messina and his family. The article clearly states that Messina was out for his 21st birthday. Does that give him the right to punch someone out unconscious, NO, but everyone knows that a 21st birthday celebration can sometimes go overboard and all those here commenting act like they have never had a drink or never been drunk or never made a bad decision. I am not friends with either party. I live in the neighborhood and have followed this story and am just disgusted by all the posts blaming one side or the other... this easily could have been someone in your own family and then I'm sure your opinions of the situation would be different.

Im not blaming any side im saying if your gonna fight dont be surprised if you end up in a wheel chair. And i dnt care what the paper said they were not there. You dnt get punched for no reason. One time i got in a fight in tinley kinda high profile fight and the newspaper said i was with my brother when it happened and it was my friend not brother.

Just another reason marijuana should be legalized. You never hear about pot heads doing this kind of stuff to one another... Alcohol is a drug legal to 21+ in America. The problem is, that no one teachs people how to respect it and use it in moderation. Then these people who think they're hot sh!t and that they know a thing or 2, turn 21 and are proven wrong. You don't know anything. In your desperate attempt to impress your friends, or your girlfriend, or "stand up for what you believe in" you end up ruining your life and countless others. Chill out man. smoke a bowl. learn that life is far more beautiful if you embrace your brother. All of the people involved are guilty... their conscience and karma will be their punishment.

Seeing as he didn't do it I agree with mr. Messina. That dumb ass in the wheel chair was running his mouth and started the fight. The kid that ame forward had a lawyer before Joe did because Joe didn't do it. You guys don't know the facts. If you knew what you were talking about maybe you'd understand. The kid that hit him was wearing khakis and a blue shirt. Joe was in jeans. The kid that hit him hid in the van after it happened and let joe take the fall. He came forward and said "I did it" but that's not good enough? Corrupt judicial system if you ask me. They have to pin it on someone and in this case they got the wrong guy. I do feel bad for the kid in the wheel chair but he's no angel like you are all making him out to be. Anyone ask why there was a fight? Anyone ask why there were 8 of wheel chair boys friends and only 2 of joes? They were all big and bad until they got what they wanted and ran off. Sad case indeed. Joes innocence will shine one day

You really have the facts wrong. There were NOT eight people with Eric. Joe was with at least FIVE people. Witnesses watched Joe hit Eric TWICE and run into the van where the police found him hiding behind the seat on the floor. It is YOU who doesn't know what they are talking about

I went to LWC with Messina and was bullied by him on more than one occasion. Alcohol did not cause this act it just fueled it. He was, is, and always will be a testorone fueled jock.

No matter which side you are on, and it is obvious most people are picking one, it is tragedy. I have been in bars off and on for 15 years and never once have I seen one person hit another with no provocation and I have seen fights. I am sure there is some split on the blame and it really is a sorry situation for both sides. My thoughts and PRAYERS go out to both sides because no one won in this situation.

As long as someone gets in trouble right? Not really but your all idiots go take the kids to the zoo and live your life. I came here to read any current information instead it's a bunch of gossip that isn't even accurate.

This scum should have gotten life in prison. He gave the victim life in his own body.

I know everyone who is siding with Eric obviously knew him and was a good friend and it is beyond terrible what happened. But I knew Joe Messina in High School and he truly is one of the nicest and most loved guys around. It could have happened to anyone while out drinking. Not many people will ever really know the full truth, and you guys act like he doesn't feel bad, but I'm sure he would do anything to take that night back. Things happen and we can not reenact the past so hopefully others will learn and maybe after his sentence he will reach out to other people so it does not happen again. But for those of you who do not know Joe, I'm sure he knows what he did was wrong but he really is an amazing guy and friend. And I know he was the best big brother to his little sister. She looked up to him so much!