Buyer turned burglar gets 10 years
A Stevens County man who posed as a home buyer, then burglarized the house as the seller vacationed with his family, will spend 10 years in prison.
Aaron Leigh, 32, was sentenced last week in Stevens County Superior Court to 80 months for residential burglary, to be served concurrently with sentences for several counts second-degree of possession of stolen property.
He got an additional 45 months after the Department of Correction revoked his participation in the drug offender sentencing alternative program on a prior offense, according to the Stevens County Prosecutor's Office
The case began in August after a homeowner showed him around a house that was for sale and mentioned he family was going camping Aug. 22 and 23. When the family returned, they found the home ransacked. Investigators found items stolen from the home in Leigh's car.
Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen wrote about the case in his weekly column.
Click the link below to read the rest of the column.
By Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasumussen:
Last
week I received a call from a state senator in Olympia. She asked me to
come to Olympia this week and testify before a senate committee on
proposed legislation having to do with the Department of Social
Services. They sent me the proposed legislation and I have looked and
it and believe that it could be improved. I have an opportunity to talk
with some senators on Monday in the late afternoon and evening and then
before the committee on Tuesday afternoon. This testimony is in follow
up to a letter I sent the Republican Caucus in November. The letter
made some suggestions for legislation to improve the services provided
to dependent children. I want to try to impress on the committee the
continued need for accountability and the need for the Department to
have some checks on its exercise of power in the lives of children in
need.
Last week in Superior court, Mr. Aaron Leigh,
DOB: 7/2/77, was sentenced on a plea of guilty to a charge of
residential burglary, and several counts of possession of stolen
property 2nd degree. The charge arose out of a burglary that happened
in August of 2009. At that time, a family had their residence up for
sale, and had a sign in front of their house. Mr. Leigh spoke with the
owner who showed him around the house, thinking Mr. Leigh was a
prospective purchaser. During their conversation, the owner mentioned
that the family was soon going camping on August 22 and 23. Upon
returning from the camping trip, they discovered their house had been
burglarized. Investigation found some of the items taken from the house
in Mr. Leigh’s car, and the owner identified Mr. Leigh as the person
who had been at his house days before.
Mr. Leigh was
sentenced to 80 months on this charge, to run concurrent with the
PSP2’s, but consecutive to all other cases. Mr. Leigh recently had a
Prison-DOSA
(drug offender sentencing alternative) administratively revoked by DOC,
and has an additional 45 month sentence on that matter, for a total of
125 months.
In Superior court this week, the trial of
Garry Norman is scheduled to begin. He is being tried on charges
relating to his alleged involvement in the armed robbery of the
drugstore in Chewelah last October. Mr. Enzler represents the state and Mr. Simone the defendant.