Plea agreement for accused gun thief proposed

GREENCASTLE -- A plea agreement has been proposed for a Poland man accused of stealing guns from a Putnam County home.

Bobby Forey, 19, is charged with Class B felony burglary and Class D felony theft. If Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley accepts the plea agreement, Forey will be convicted of one Class C felony count of burglary, punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Headley set Forey's sentencing for Dec. 3.

The charges against Forey stem from a April incident in which three firearms -- two rifles and a shotgun -- were stolen from a residence in Reelsville. The guns were reported missing on April 22.

Court document said the victim of the alleged burglary told police he and his wife were not at home when the guns were taken, and that he discovered they were missing after returning home from work.

The victim said the missing guns were kept in a locked room, and that the screen on the window of that room was cut from the outside. Crime scene technicians were able to take partial shoe prints and latent fingerprints, which eventually led them to Forey, who was in jail in Owen County on an unrelated charge.

The prints found at the scene were conclusively identified as Forey's, court records said.

Forey told police he was friends with the alleged victim's stepdaughter and that his prints would likely be "all over the house."

A warrant for Forey's arrest was issued July 28, and he was taken into custody two days later.

Forey requested a public defender, and James Recker was assigned to the case.

Forey has been in jail since his arrest, unable to post the 10 percent of a $30,000 bond he would need to be released.

Forey's Putnam County criminal history includes 2008 convictions for misdemeanor reckless driving and driving while suspended.