Fillmore man facing felony burglary charges
A Fillmore man was formally charged in Putnam County Circuit Court Thursday with two felonies related to a Jan. 21 burglary at a Cloverdale residence.
Mark A. Anderson, 20, entered not guilty pleas to charges of Class B felony conspiracy to commit burglary and Class D felony conspiracy to commit theft. He was arrested on March 31.
Anderson is accused of conspiring with another man, Thomas R. Kratt, 23, of Coatesville to steal various items including motorcycle helmets and riding equipment, computers and tools from a vehicle parked in the driveway of a house in the 300 block of W. C.R. 700S in Cloverdale.
Kratt implicated Anderson during an interview shortly after Kratt's arrest, court documents said. A probable cause affidavit alleges that Anderson gave Kratt four Klonopin tablets as prepayment for items Anderson asked Kratt to steal, as well as giving him $20 in gas money to drive to the site of the alleged burglary.
"Anderson was being monitored at the time via an ankle bracelet with community corrections and was not able to leave the house to commit the burglary himself," court documents said.
According to court documents, Kratt also produced e-mails and cell phone voicemails connecting Anderson to the crime.
On March 20, Anderson admitted to police that he and Kratt had a discussion on Jan. 20 about committing the burglary, court documents said. Anderson also admitted that he told Kratt to bring the stolen items back to Anderson's house.
In court Thursday, Anderson said he would like to hire his own counsel but was not sure he would be able to. Judge Matt Headley assigned public defender Melinda Jackman-Hanlin to Anderson's case.
Headley set a pretrial conference for Anderson for May 21. Also on that date, a hearing will be held to determine whether or not Anderson, who was on home detention and probation when he was arrested on the new charges, violated the terms of either.
Anderson was convicted in Putnam County Circuit Court of Class C felony burglary on Aug. 14, 2008. He was given a six-year sentence with two years executed -- 30 days at the Putnam County Jail and the remainder on home detention -- with the rest of the sentence suspended.
Anderson was charged with Class D felony theft and Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief on October 2007, but those charges were dismissed.
At the request of Deputy Prosecutor Justin Long, Headley ordered Anderson held without bond.
If convicted on both charges, Anderson could be sentenced to up to 23 years in prison.
Kratt was arrested Jan. 26. He posted 10 percent of a $10,000 bond and was released from jail that same day. His next scheduled court date is pretrial conference on June 25.