URBANA – A 25-year-old Peoria man who gambled away almost a half-million dollars of other people's money has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a Champaign County judge.

"You can't steal hundreds of thousands of dollars and walk out of court with a piece of paper in your hand," Judge Tom Difanis told Randall D. O'Neill before also ordering him to repay $76,698.27 to five loan companies from which he fraudulently obtained money in his girlfriend's name.

O'Neill pleaded guilty in November to financial identity theft over $10,000, admitting that between March 2007 and August 2008, he took out almost $100,000 in student loans in the name of his then-fiance and lost the money gambling.

O'Neill was a University of Illinois mechanical engineering student at the time. He and the woman, who is now 23, lived in the 2300 block of East Main Street in Urbana. She was a nursing student in Danville then.

Assistant State's Attorney Joel Fletcher said O'Neill used the woman's personal information without her knowledge to apply for seven education loans. He intercepted the checks, forged her name, cashed the checks, then used the money to gamble online. When she became aware of the loans, she went to police in September 2009. Urbana police detective Duane Maxey investigated.

Fletcher argued for restitution and the prison sentence.

In 2009, O'Neill was convicted of theft in Peoria County for stealing from his own father during roughly the same time he was stealing using his fiance's name. He was sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to repay his father $108,981, even though he admitted owing his dad about $400,000 for gambling debts.

Noting that O'Neill was unsuccessfully discharged from a Peoria facility where he was being treated for his gambling addiction, Fletcher characterized the Peoria County sentence as a "gift."

Fletcher said he doubted O'Neill's ability to make restitution given that he makes $1,600 a month at his current job. Court records show he works for a lawn care service. He was about a semester away from graduating from the UI when he quit school.

"I have an image of someone on the deck of the Titanic with a hair dryer saying everything is going to be all right," Fletcher said.

O'Neill's attorney, Harvey Welch of Urbana, said his client accepted responsibility for his crimes and urged the judge to consider probation so O'Neill could continue working to repay what he owes.

"The gambling addiction is there. Twenty-first century technology makes it so easy to feed that addiction. You can do it from your own home, cell phone or whatever medium you choose," Welch said, pointing out that O'Neill had no other crimes in his past.

O'Neill said it took him a long time to realize the gravity of what he'd done and said he's "trying as hard as I can."

Difanis said when O'Neill received probation in Peoria County, "one would have assumed he would have diligently performed everything required of him." "The circumstances surrounding his offense and his performance on probation speak volumes about his rehabilitative potential," Difanis said.