A Hancock man accused in a string of burglaries has been sentenced to serve 60 days in jail after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
As a result of the agreement, more than 30 charges of burglary and theft that had been filed against Jacob Richardson were dismissed, according to documents filed in Hancock County Unified Criminal Court.
Richardson, 20, pleaded guilty Monday to one charge of burglary, two charges of theft and one charge of reckless conduct, the last of which resulted from a 25-minute standoff with police when they went to execute a search warrant at his home last November.
Richardson received an overall sentence of 18 months in prison with all but 60 days suspended, plus two years of probation upon his release. He also was ordered to pay $7,100 in restitution to more than a dozen people whose homes were burglarized in November of last year.
Richardson was a suspect in the burglaries in the eastern Hancock County towns of Eastbrook, Franklin, Hancock, Osborn, Waltham and Township 22 when police went to his home Nov. 30 to execute a search warrant.
Police entered the home after they announced their presence and no one came to the door. As police were making their way down a hallway, they heard the sound of a round being loaded into a firearm in an adjacent bedroom, according to court documents.
Police immediately left the home and, after using a bullhorn to urge Richardson to come out peacefully, took him into custody nearly a half-hour later when he emerged with his hands in the air.
Among the stolen items police recovered in the search were power tools, electronics, three firearms and a mounted, taxidermic antelope head, according to court documents.
Matthew Foster, district attorney for Hancock County, said Tuesday evening that there are two other defendants in the case and that Richardson is considered “at most” an accomplice.
The two other people identified by police as suspects in the burglaries are Gary Goodrich and Kayla Bulleman, both 21 of Surry.
The cases against the two other defendants, which are still pending, are “much stronger,” Foster added, and taking Richardson’s case to trial would have meant more than a week of trial testimony and would have rung up a hefty travel bill by bringing more than 30 witnesses to Ellsworth from out of state.
“The plea deal was made in consultation with law enforcement and the victims, and we felt that this was the best result we could obtain,” Foster said. “Since [he] was basically an accomplice and the investigation was focused on the co-defendants as the more culpable parties, we chose to proceed as we did.”
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