BRATTLEBORO, Vermont — A local man will serve four to 10 years in prison for his role in a burglary ring that investigators say committed roughly 100 break-ins in Maine and four other states.
Dillon W. Lange, 23, whose last known address was Alstead, pleaded guilty recently in Windham Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro to 13 felonies and five misdemeanors. Those charges include burglary, aiding in the commission of a felony, petit larceny and unlawful mischief.
Lange admitted to his role in 15 break-ins at businesses in five Windham County towns in 2011, in addition to burglaries in the Vermont towns of Hartford and Springfield, according to court documents.
Seven businesses in Brattleboro were targeted: Top of the Hill Grill, Windham Country Vet Clinic, Curves, Grafton Cheese Co., Windham County Humane Society, Supreme Fitness and Dunkley’s Machine Stop.
Lange also helped carry out break-ins at Curtis’ BBQ, Putney Diner and Morning Glorious, all of Putney, Vermont, and at the Westminster, Vermont, businesses of Harlow’s Farm Stand and Patriot trucking.
Additionally, he burglarized WW Building Supply in Newfane, Vermont, and the Saxtons River Village Market in Saxtons River, Vermont
Lange is the most recent man to be sentenced in what police have called a multistate burglary ring that targeted businesses in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Cash was the primary item taken at the businesses, according to police.
Five men pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced in connection with burglaries in Vermont: Travis Noyes and Lance Thomas, both of Rockingham, Vermont; Christopher Goldschmidt of Athens, Vermont; Criscenzo Ruggiero of Westminster, Vermont; and Logan Critchfield of Walpole.
In May 2013, a Cheshire County Superior Court judge sentenced Lange to serve 1 1/2 to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to five counts of burglary in connection with break-ins in Charlestown, Gilsum and Westmoreland. He was ordered to pay more than $3,000 in restitution at that time.