Codey Parsons, 20, was charged with eight to 18 years in prison last Friday following sentencing on charges of burglary stemming from a series of burglaries in August.
Jeffrey Donnell, the judge for the trial, compared Parsons and his partner in crime to vacuum cleaners.
“So you and your partner were doing this, apparently like a couple of vacuum cleaners, sucking up anything that wasn’t nailed down,” Donnell said.
Parsons made a plea deal in February, in which he pled guilty to two charges of burglary, and in exchange, the state dropped the two aggravated burglary charges as well as 26 other burglary charges he was originally charged with, according to court documents. Donnell said in the sentencing Parsons could have faced up to “four lifetimes” in prison if he received the maximum penalty for all of the burglaries.
Parsons said he committed the crimes because he “just wanted to fit in with his friends.” Kurt Britzius, the prosecutor, said both Parsons and his partner admitted to stealing the items to buy drugs.
Most of the burglaries involved unlocked vehicles and some of the things stolen include iPods, laptops, tablets and a handgun.
Only nine of the victims of the burglaries requested restitution, amounting to $2,221.30.
The investigation began with a report of a stolen Kindle, and police discovered that another Laramie man, Justin Ochs, was in possession of a Kindle matching the description given for the stolen Kindle.
Parsons was at Ochs’ home when police came to question him, and immediately began to “make admissions to his involvement with the auto burglaries and criminal entries to automobiles in the Laramie area,” according to a police affidavit.
Parsons could have his sentence reduced if he completes boot camp.
