Man sentenced to prison for robberies

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Greencastle man convicted of eight residential robberies and robbery attempts that took place between December 2007 and July 2008 has been sentenced to prison time for the crimes.

Edward Alan Jones, 26, is listed at the Indiana Department of Correction Web site as a "Central Office administration inbound" inmate, meaning he is still lodged at the Putnam County Jail awaiting transfer to a DOC facility.

Jones pled guilty to and was convicted of one Class B felony charge of burglary. Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley sentenced Jones to 12 years at the DOC with eight years executed and four years suspended and to be spent on probation, with no credit for time served.

A restitution hearing to determine how much Jones will have to pay back to his victims has been set for June 11.

Jones could have received a 20-year sentence for a Class B felony. Under the terms of a plea agreement, one additional count of Class B felony burglary, a Class D felony theft count and a proposed habitual offender designation (which would have significantly enhanced any sentence Jones received) were dismissed.

Jones was booked into the Putnam County Jail after his July 31 arrest, and has been there ever since.

All the robberies Jones committed happened in the vicinity of Manhattan Road and C.R. 550S. Jones broke into homes in the middle of the night while the victims slept, court documents said. He stole such items as money and jewelry.

Court dates for Jones were repeatedly reset while Jones' attorney requested psychiatric evaluations for her client. Jones, who court records showed had been diagnosed with various mental illnesses and personality disorders, withdrew the request for evaluation just before he entered into the plea agreement.

Jones' past criminal history includes charges of possession of marijuana, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and theft, all in Clay County, and a Class C burglary conviction in Putnam County in 2006 for which he was given a five-year sentence at DOC with three years executed.

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