Man guilty of church, school break-ins

Break-ins at both a church and a school have landed a man in prison for more than a year.

            Derrick Roberts, 20, of Old Catawba River Road in Old Fort recently pleaded guilty in McDowell County Superior Court to breaking and entering a place of worship, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of stolen goods and breaking and entering.

            In the two breaking and entering cases, Judge James W. Morgan sentenced Roberts to 13 to 16 months in prison and gave him credit for time spent in pretrial confinement. In the other cases, he was given a 10- to 12-month suspended sentence and was placed on supervised probation for 60 months. He was ordered to spend nine months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service and pay court costs, restitution of $10,495 to the victims in the cases and reimbursement of $1,147.50 for a court-appointed attorney.

            Detective Jason Grindstaff of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office said Roberts broke into Catawba View Baptist Church on Baptist Side Road in Old Fort between April 13 and 16, 2011.

            A few days later, Old Fort Police Chief Melvin Lytle responded to a domestic dispute at Roberts’ house and, while there, found a notary seal with the church’s name on it, according to Grindstaff.

            Officer Dewey Lawson of the Old Fort Police Department said Roberts broke into Old Fort Elementary on April 20, 2011 and stole property, including two TVs.

            Lawson said the TVs were recovered at a residence in Old Fort, which led authorities to Roberts.

            The following defendants also appeared in McDowell County Superior Court in January:

            -- Johnathan Michael Lee Caines, 24, of Burnsville pleaded guilty to three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and one count of sexual activity by a substitute parent. The judge gave him two consecutive active prison sentences of 16 to 20 and 25 to 39 months. He was ordered to register as a sex offender and be satellite monitored for the rest of his life. He also received a 16- to 20-month suspended sentence and was placed on supervised probation for 60 months. He must pay court costs and restitution of $700 for a court-appointed attorney.

-- Brittany Sunette Elliott, 23, of Ray Roland Drive in Marion pleaded guilty to 11 counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and one count of injury to real property. Judge Morgan handed Elliot four consecutive six- to eight-month suspended sentences and placed her on supervised probation for 36 months. She was ordered to spend six months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service and pay four court costs, restitution of $2,092 to the victims in the cases and reimbursement of $1,012.50 for a court-appointed attorney.

-- James Ralph Fitzgerald, 52, of Old Glenwood Road in Marion pleaded guilty to assault on a government official or employee. Fitzgerald was sentenced to 78 days in jail and was given credit for that amount of time spent in pretrial confinement.

-- Sharon Renae Herndon, 50, of Hankins Road in Marion pleaded guilty to two counts of operating a vehicle with no insurance. She received a prayer for judgment and was ordered to pay court costs.

-- Dearte Howard, 29, of Old Glenwood Road in Marion pleaded guilty to injury to real property. The judge sentenced him to 120 days in prison to run consecutive to a sentence he is currently serving. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $608.03 to the victim in the case.

-- Gregory Scott Johnson, 30, of 7^th Street in Marion pleaded guilty to driving while impaired, level 1, and driving while license revoked. On the DWI charge, he was sentenced to one year in prison. On the driving while revoked offense, he given a 120-day consecutive prison sentence.

-- James Ervin Lasher, 19, of Triple J Mobile Home Park in Marion pleaded guilty to sexual activity by a substitute parent. The judge handed him a 20- to 33-month suspended sentence and placed him on supervised probation for 48 months. Lasher must spend nine months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service, register as a sex offender for 30 years and pay court costs and restitution of $881 to a court-appointed attorney.

-- Jeffrey Lynn Mays Jr., 32, of Claremont pleaded guilty to driving while license revoked and possession of drug paraphernalia. The judge gave him a 120-day suspended sentence and placed him on unsupervised probation for 12 months. Mays must pay court costs and restitution of $487.50 for a court-appointed attorney.

-- Joshua Randall Russell, 31, of Asheville pleaded guilty to two counts each of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and misdemeanor larceny. He was given two consecutive suspended sentences each of six to eight months and 120-days and was sentenced to 36 months supervised probation. The judge ordered Russell to spend nine months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service and pay court costs, restitution of $2,084 to the victims in the cases and reimbursement of $390 for a court-appointed attorney.

-- Allison Michelle Smith, 45, of Bostic pleaded guilty to felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. She was sentenced to 10 to 12 months in prison.

-- Albert James Triplett, 50, of West Court Street in Marion pleaded guilty to 12 counts of obtaining property by false pretense. He was given two consecutive 11- to 14-month suspended sentences and was placed on supervised probation for 12 months. He must spend six months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service and pay two court costs, a $100 fine and restitution of $875.50 to the victims in the cases.

-- Junior A. Wagoner, 29, of Granite Falls pleaded guilty to assault on a government official or employee. The judge sentenced him to 108 days in jail and gave him credit for that amount of time spent in pretrial confinement.

-- Jason Eric Burleson, 30, of Spruce Pine pleaded guilty to driving while license revoked. He was sentenced to 75 days in prison and was given credit for time spent in pretrial confinement.

-- Terry Wayne Evans, 43, of Winston-Salem pleaded guilty to larceny of a motor vehicle and assault on a female. On the motor vehicle charge, Judge Morgan sentenced him to 18 to 22 months in prison and ordered that he pay restitution of $2,116.61 for a court-appointed attorney. On the assault charge, Evans was given a 150-day suspended sentence and was placed on supervised probation for 24 months. He must spend six months on intensive supervised probation, perform 50 hours of community service and pay court cost.

-- Joe Robinette of Rena Street in Marion pleaded no contest to communicating threats. He received a prayer for judgment and must pay court costs.

-- Jason Travis Ross, 31, of Stacy Hill Road in Marion pleaded not guilty to simple assault. A jury found him guilty. The judge handed Ross a 60-day suspended sentence and placed him on supervised probation for 24 months. He was ordered to spend 15 days in jail and pay court costs, restitution of $1,849 to the victim in the case and reimbursement of $618.75 for a court-appointed attorney.

-- Kolon Lewis Johnson, 38, of Chestnut Oak Forest Drive in Nebo pleaded guilty to two counts of driving while license revoked and one count each of driving while impaired, assault on a female, simple assault and expired registration card or tag. Judge Morgan gave him two consecutive suspended sentences of 180 days and 150 days and placed him on supervised probation for 24 months. Johnson was ordered to perform 72 hours of community service, surrender his driver’s license and pay court costs, a $300 fine and restitution of $480 for a court-appointed attorney.