A local man who pleaded guilty to two counts of residential burglary was sentenced to 32 years in prison Thursday by a Garland County Circuit Court jury after a one-day hearing.
Phillip Wayne Burgess, 35, who lists a Donnie Court address, had pleaded guilty to the two felony counts, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison, but prosecutors opted to let a jury decide his fate and they recommended the maximum of 20 years on one count and 12 years on the other, to run consecutively for a total of 32 years.
The jury also recommended the maximum fine of $15,000 on each count for a total of $30,000, Prosecuting Attorney Terri Harris said Thursday, noting, "It was a good verdict" in light of the fact Burgess had no prior felony convictions.
"It shows the community is getting tired of burglaries and stealing. Juries are beginning to show no tolerance for these types of crimes and thefts," she said, adding that Deputy Prosecutor Jason Johnson, who handled the case, was "quite pleased."
Harris said the burglaries Burgess was charged with occurred on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2014 and involved a house under renovation he had returned to twice. "There were a lot of family heirlooms, with about $50,000 in losses and the victim was not reimbursed for that," she said.
According to the affidavit, on Dec. 25, 2014, around 9:30 p.m., Garland County sheriff's Deputy Richard Huffman responded to a burglary in progress at a residence in the 1800 block of Marion Anderson Road and upon arrival saw Burgess coming out of the house.
Burgess claimed he was there doing some tile work and had been hired by someone named "Joe" he met on Facebook. While Huffman was talking to Burgess, a female, 43, reportedly walked out of the house.
She claimed she didn't know what was going on and was just there helping her boyfriend, Burgess, do some tile work.
Huffman spoke to the owner of the residence, who stated no one was supposed to be there doing any work and he didn't know anyone named "Joe." He also noted the house had been broken into several times in the past week.
The owner came to the scene and checked inside the house and discovered someone had taken his mother's antique bed apart. Burgess made a spontaneous statement admitting he had broken into the residence previously and taken some tile. A theft report had been filed the day before alleging $4,000 worth of tile was missing.
Burgess was taken into custody and later released on $13,500 bond.
Local on 04/30/2016