Cole sentenced to one year for alcohol theft
A Greencastle man was sentenced to a year in jail Monday for stealing liquor from Wal-Mart.
James R. Cole, 20, was sentenced in Putnam County Circuit Court on a felony theft charge.
Cole was apprehended on Sept. 19 at the Greencastle Wal-Mart, where he had been detained by the staff for "attempting to steal alcohol," court records said. A store manager told Greencastle Police Department officer Ed Wilson Cole had tried to take a 750 milliliter bottle of rum and a 750 milliliter bottle of vodka. The manager told Wilson Cole had admitted to the thefts, court documents said.
Cole was identified by an Indiana Department of Corrections I.D. card he had in his pocket.
"I read Cole the Miranda warnings and asked him if he had stolen the alcohol, to which he replied that he had," Wilson wrote in his report.
Cole told Wilson he had not come to the store with the intent to steal, but rather had done so on impulse.
Cole was originally arrested in August 2007 and charged with Class D felony theft and two counts of Class C felony forgery. On Feb. 21 he was convicted on one of the forgery counts and was sentenced to four years in prison with two years executed, balance suspended and credit for time served, and was put on probation. He was released from jail on Aug. 28.
A petition to revoke Cole's probation was issued on Sept. 22 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Cole has been at the Putnam County Jail since his arrest, and remains there pending transfer to a DOC facility.