A Russellville man accused of breaking into several local businesses in 2011 pleaded guilty to theft charges last Wednesday, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said.
Aaron Wayne King, 21, formerly of 3508 Oakwood Blvd., Sheffield, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree theft of property.
Rushing said King received a 10-year sentence split with 18 months to serve followed by five years of probation.
“In cases where property has been stolen and there are victims who are owed restitution, we want the defendant to serve time in prison but we also want the victim’s to begin receiving their money,” Rushing said.
“A defendant cannot pay restitution when he or she is in jail, so after speaking with the victims in the cases, we decided this would be the best offer so the victims can begin receiving restitution for the property Mr. King is accused of stealing.”
King was originally indicted in February on six counts of third-degree burglary, four counts of first-degree theft of property, two counts of second-degree theft of property and first-degree receiving stolen property, records show.
According to Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett, King was implicated in several incidents in September of 2011 where three local businesses were burglarized.
Hargett said investigations into these burglaries yielded enough information to obtain a search warrant to King’s residence at that time.
When executing the search warrant, Hargett said officers found several thousand dollars worth of stolen items, including tools and electronics, which police believed were stolen during the burglaries.
At the time of King’s arrest on Sept. 26, 2011, investigators believed his arrest would clear up approximately 10 burglary cases that had occurred in the city over a period of several weeks.