Published: May 05, 2009 10:58 pm      

Sawmill burglar sentenced to six years in prison

Jonathan Powers ordered to pay more than $4,000 in restitution

The former Galveston resident who broke into the business he used to work has learned his punishment for the crime.

On Tuesday, Cass Superior Court II Judge Rick Maughmer accepted the terms of a negotiated plea deal and sentenced 33-year-old Jonathan Wayne Powers to six years in prison. The judge also ordered Powers to pay $4,628 in restitution to Conner Saw Mill in Walton.

Powers, a former employee of the sawmill, burglarized the business in 2007. He and co-defendant Jeffrey Pellegrino stole $10,000 worth of tools, computer equipment and cash. Police say some of the items were recovered.

The Cass County prosecutor’s office agreed to drop a class D felony charge of theft and the habitual offender enhancement, a finding that could have added 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 was ordered to surrender to the Indiana Department of Correction immediately. He 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.

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

Pellegrino is already serving a two-year sentence for his role in the business break-in.

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

With credit for good behavior, Powers could be out in less than three years.

Combined with multiple other convictions, Pellegrino’s earliest possible release date is Sept. 11, 2012.

Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com