FARMINGTON – A Freeman Township man received a sentence of 15 months in the state prison system Friday in Franklin County Superior Court, after pleading guilty to burglarizing three homes and selling the guns he stole to buy drugs.
Glendon Ladd, 20, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and theft by unauthorized taking, all six charges being Class B felonies, as well as some other minor charges unrelated to the case.
On April 30, 2007, Ladd admitted to Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Detective David St. Laurent that he broke into three Strong residences over the course of the previous week. In all three cases, Ladd knew the victims and had been inside their homes previously. From the three homes Ladd stole a total of 11 guns, which Assistant District Attorney James Andrews characterized as “long guns,” as well as a safe, lock box and some old pain medication.
“In all three cases the door was unlocked,” Andrews said. “These appear to be day time burglaries.”
Susan Pratt, along with her husband, Rupert Pratt, owned a house burglarized by Ladd. She addressed the court during sentencing, asking for the longest possible jail sentence. While losing the items in question had been bad, Pratt said, the other effects of the burglary had been worse.
“The sense of security we lost,” Pratt said, “I just can’t describe it. I hope nobody ever had to go through that.”
“When he is in jail,” she went on to say, “I sleep better at night.”
Ladd admitted to St. Laurent that he sold the guns for money, getting $425 which he used to purchase prescription medications. That department was able to track down all but one of the stolen guns, thanks in part to receipts that Ladd had signed for the unwitting people he sold the firearms to.
Ladd also agreed to cooperate with the sheriff’s department, telling them that he was assisted by Heather Haley, 21, of Avon, who has been charged with a count of receiving stolen property, a Class B felony, and Jonathan C. Parker, 20, of Phillips, who has been charged with two counts of receiving stolen property.
However, Ladd’s legal troubles didn’t end there. On July 10, Ladd was charged with forgery and violating the conditions of his release after he stole a check from his grandmother and wrote in “$500.” He was released, having repaid his grandmother for the money he took.
Then, on Jan. 17, 2009, Ladd was arrested again, after what Ladd’s attorney, Daniel Knight, termed an “ugly incident that resulted in no injury,” involving Ladd’s mother. Today, Ladd pleaded guilty to obstructing the report of a crime and violating the conditions of release.
Ladd was released and finally arrested for two counts of violating the conditions of release after he had contact with his mother, which was not permitted, and was found to have been taking illegal drugs.
Andrews said that his office had hoped that Ladd would be affected by the time he spent in county jail and could have gotten treatment for his drug problem. However, that did not happen.
“What has occurred instead,” Andrews said, “were repeated incidents where Mr. Ladd was released on bail and violated the conditions by committing new criminal conduct. The state, at this point and time, considers Mr. Ladd a danger to the community.”
Andrews asked for an 18 month sentence in a Department of Corrections facility.
Knight argued that his client was young and had no real criminal record, besides some limited activity as a juvenile. While Knight acknowledged the seriousness of the crimes, he argued that the nature of the burglaries, in the day time in homes Ladd knew well, minimized the potential for something worse happening. Knight also focused on Ladd’s drug problem as the root cause for his behavior.
“It’s very clear here,” Knight said, “that there is an ongoing drug problem.”
Ladd himself spoke briefly to the judge, apologizing for his actions.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” he said. “I’m sorry for the victims. It’ll never happen again and I’m just very sorry.”
Knight asked Justice Michaela Murphy for a county jail sentence, or no more than nine months.
Murphy, however, found Ladd’s actions to be serious enough to warrant a prison sentence. She balanced his age and lack of record against his post-burglary conduct, and sentenced him to five years in prison, all but 15 months of that sentence suspended. Murphy said she believed that Ladd would be able to qualify for the state prison’s Therapeutic Community Program, which she believed he would benefit from.
Upon his release, Ladd will face four years of probation. He will also need to pay a total of $900 in restitution to the victims.
“I don’t think you understand how dangerous it was for you to break into their homes and steal their guns,” Murphy told Ladd.
