FARMINGTON — Two men have been sentenced for their parts in a string of Franklin County convenience store burglaries and arsons at a home in Wilton and a camp in Carthage last summer.
Devon Pease, 23, of Jay, plead guilty to aggravated criminal mischief for his role in a fire set at a home on Sewall Street in Wilton last June. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of theft for convenience store burglaries in Jay, New Vineyard and Weld between June 30 and July 1.
Pease was sentenced to five years in prison, with all but six months suspended, on the criminal mischief charge. He was sentenced to two years in prison, all suspended, on the burglary and theft charges to run concurrent with his criminal mischief sentence. He received two years probation for each sentence to run consecutively.
The second man, Duane Bailey, 28, formerly of Massachusetts, was ordered to serve two 12-year sentences, with all but 46 months suspended, on two arson charges, one for his part in the fire set at the Sewall Street home and the other for a fire he helped set to a log-style camp in Carthage later on the night of June 27. The sentences will be served concurrently, and Bailey will be on probation for four years following his release.
Bailey was also sentenced to serve four years in prison for each of three felony burglary counts he pleaded guilty to for the convenience store break-ins. Additionally, he was sentenced to serve 180 days for each of the two counts of theft he also pleaded guilty to in the same case. The sentences in this case will be served concurrently with his sentence in the arson case.
Bailey pleaded guilty to his charges in a court hearing prior to last week’s sentencing.
Bailey and Pease are two of four men who were charged in connection with the crimes. D’Kota Rowe, 21, of Wilton, and Einer Bonilla, 22, of Grand Island, Nebraska, face similar charges.
Bonilla pleaded guilty last month to three felony counts of burglary and two misdemeanor charges of theft in connection with the convenience store burglaries, though he has not yet been sentenced. He appears in court for a dispositional conference on May 16 on four felony counts of arson and one felony county of criminal mischief for allegedly helping to set the Wilton and Carthage fires.
Rowe’s trial on the five counts of arson and one count of criminal mischief in connection with the Wilton and Carthage fires took place last week. A verdict is expected later this month. A trial date for his burglary case, in which he faces three felony counts of burglary and two misdemeanor charges of theft, has not yet been set.
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