Published: April 09, 2009 12:03 pm      

Sawmill burglar awaiting sentence

In exchange for guilty plea, defendant facing six-year prison term

A 33-year-old former Galveston resident has pleaded guilty to burglarizing the Conner Saw Mill in 2007.

Jonathan Wayne Powers entered the plea last week, and he is scheduled for sentencing on April 28 in Cass Superior Court II.

If Judge Rick Maughmer accepts terms of the negotiated plea deal, Powers would get six years in the Indiana Department of Correction. The Cass County prosecutor’s office also agreed to drop a class D felony charge of theft.

In making the plea, he might also avoid prosecution as a habitual offender, a finding that could add years to his sentence.

To be judged a habitual offender, a defendant must have two previous unrelated felony convictions. Court records indicate Powers was convicted of theft in 2001 and carrying a handgun without a license in 2004.

Powers has been in the Cass County Jail since February, when he was extradited from Newport, Ky., after six months as a fugitive. He was captured in Kentucky after a high-speed chase.

Powers is accused of stealing $10,000 worth of tools, computer equipment and cash from the Conner Saw Mill.

As a fugitive, Powers made local law enforcement’s most wanted criminals list.

Powers had been scheduled for a jury trial on Wednesday. In preparation for the trial, the prosecutor’s office had an order for transport for co-defendant Jeffrey Pellegrino, who is already serving a two-year sentence for his role in the business burglary.

The 28-year-old was scheduled to be brought from the Westville Correction Facility for a deposition on April 1, the day Powers changed his plea.

After being arrested in Tippecanoe County on drug charges, Pellegrino provided a statement to police about the saw mill burglary. That is how Powers, a former employee of the sawmill, became a suspect not long after the break-in.

In March, the state obtained a court order to acquire a DNA sample from Powers. Investigators believed they could link him to the crime from a Pepsi can left at the scene.

Kevin Lilly can be reached at (574) 732-5117, or via e-mail at kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com