AUGUSTA — A thief struck a treasure trove of marijuana and pot pipes, an Under Armour jacket, a phone and about $460 in cash when he rifled through seven vehicles in a Winslow parking lot last September.
Police investigating the thefts had surveillance video that showed a suspect — later identified as Jacob Allen Kerby, 24, of Benton — trying door handles of various vehicles and getting into some of them at a parking lot on Millenium Drive, Assistant District Attorney Alisa Ross told a judge on Tuesday.
Kerby had been linked to the October 2015 daylight robbery of Casey’s Redemption Center in Fairfield. He was fresh out of prison, released Aug. 15, 2017, from the Bolduc Correctional Facility, and was on probation when the parking lot thefts occurred.
Someone had chased the thief from the parking lot and told police the man got into a Volvo and left. That same vehicle was later found at the scene of a theft reported on High Street in Winslow, Ross said. Kerby, who was a passenger, was arrested.
Kerby initially denied being at the Winslow parking lot but eventually told investigators he had a drug problem and needed help.
On Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center, Kerby pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of burglary of a motor vehicle and three felony counts of theft, all of which occurred Sept. 28, 2017, in Winslow.
Judge Eric Walker sentenced him to three years in prison, to run concurrent with a four-year probation revocation. Kerby will not be on probation when he is released.
The sentence was recommended jointly by both the defense and the state. Kerby’s attorney, Thomas J. Nale, said he had talked to Kerby’s probation officer, who agreed that probation was not appropriate for Kerby.
Kerby said little at the hearing after answer “guilty” to all 10 charges. In exchange for the pleas, the state dismissed four other charges.
Ross said all the owners of the marijuana pipes and marijuana that had been stolen possessed medical marijuana cards.
Kerby was ordered to pay $940 restitution for the stolen cash, the jacket and other items not recovered.
Ross said the state did not seek restitution for the marijuana.
“Officers recovered five marijuana pipes, five marijuana containers and one suboxone strip,” Ross said. “A lot of the marijuana was recovered.”
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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