Man sentenced to prison after guilty plea to multiple charges
A habitual offender was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to multiple charges stemming from a 2010 burglary.
Vincent Lamont Benson, 21, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty to theft of property more than $ 2,500, residential burglary and theft of a firearm and was sentenced to 12 years on each count, to run concurrently, and also ordered to pay $ 12,437 in restitution from a civil judgment and $ 170 in court costs upon his release.
Benson was classified as a habitual offender having been previously convicted Jan. 24, 2011, of three counts of residential burglary. He was on parole at the time of his arrest on the new charges Aug. 3, 2011.
According to the affidavit, the owner of a residence in the 100 block of Dalewood St., reported that he had left home on July 14 and came back the next day to find it had been burglarized.
Numerous items were missing, including 17 firearms valued at more than $ 15,000, $ 2,500 in coins, various tools, jewelry, ammunition, miscellaneous electronics and a $ 2,500 pair of binoculars.
An empty Gatorade bottle was found in the living room which the victim noted had not been there when he left, so Hot Springs Police Department detective Kirk Zaner collected it and sent it to the state crime lab.
A DNA profile was obtained from the bottle which was later matched to Benson, who was arrested Aug. 3, 2011, and later released on $ 25,000 bond pending trial.
• A local man was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to a felony count of theft by receiving more than $ 1,000 stemming from a burglary earlier this year.
Christopher Miguel Garcia, 26, who has remained in jail since his arrest Feb. 8 in lieu of $ 10,000 bond, was also ordered to pay $ 170 in court costs upon his release, but other fees were expunged for time served.
Garcia was classified as a habitual offender because of previous convictions in 2005, 2010 and 2011 for hot checks, theft by receiving of a firearm, and theft by receiving more than $ 500.
According to the affidavit, on Jan. 2, a burglary was reported in the 100 block of Chappel Hill Road in which several pieces of jewelry were stolen including a gold necklace with a pearl pendant.
On Jan. 4, Garcia sold several necklaces and other pieces of jewelry at a local pawn shop, including one necklace with a pearl pendant. Garcia had the pawn clerk remove the pearl before he sold it.
The victim from the burglary reportedly identified that necklace, two gold wedding bands and another ring as belonging to her, with a total value of $ 590. On Jan. 10, Garcia sold five necklaces at another local pawn shop, which the victim also identified, with a total value of $ 1,200.