BANGOR —  The man who stole dozens of firearms by lifting them through a hole he made in the roof of a Winthrop hardware store will spend the next eight years in a federal prison.

 John J. Woodley, 49, of Winthrop, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 100 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, during which Woodley must undergo treatment for drug and alcohol abuse and submit to random drug tests.

U.S. District Court Judge John A. Woodcock also ordered Woodley to pay Audette’s Hardware & Sporting Goods Store $2,300 for damaged caused to the building during the burglary. Woodley also must pay $300 in court fees.

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney F. Todd Lowell had sought a prison sentence of between 121 and 151 months.  Woodley’s attorney, Stephen Smith, argued for a 76-month sentence.

Woodley pleaded guilty on Nov. 23, 2010, to theft of a firearm from the premises of a licensed dealer and two  counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Woodley broke into Audette’s Hardware on Peck Farm Road in Winthrop on Aug. 15, 2010, and single-handedly stole 36 handguns.

On Sept. 8, after speaking to police about the burglary at Audette’s, Woodley broke into a car and stole another gun, this one a .22 caliber pistol, which he subsequently sold to an undercover agent, according to information disclosed at the hearing.