Sarah Vitale, 29, of Augusta, must serve 29 months in jail and three years of probation and, with her accomplice, pay $15,000-plus in restitution for a one-day burglary spree in 2009, according to court documents.
Justice Jeffrey Hjelm sentenced Vitale on Aug. 25 in Lincoln County Superior Court.
Vitale pleaded guilty to 12 charges of Class B burglary and Class B and C theft, all felonies.
According to court documents, the charges stem from burglaries of and subsequent thefts from six private residences in Boothbay, Edgecomb, Jefferson and Newcastle, all on Sept. 9, 2009.
Vitale’s accomplice and boyfriend, Luke Greenlaw, 37, also of Augusta, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced on May 5.
Greenlaw was sentenced to four years on the Lincoln County charges with three years of probation to follow. He was ordered to pay upwards of $20,000 in restitution, together with Vitale.
Greenlaw and Vitale stole computers, jewelry, cash, savings bonds and a camera, among other items.
The couple is already serving longer prison sentences and has been ordered to pay much larger restitution amounts as a result of similar incidents in Kennebec and Oxford counties.
The archives of The Lincoln County News (see “Burglary suspects arrested in Augusta,” in the Sept. 17, 2009 edition) illuminate the details of the couple’s criminal activities.
The couple committed the crimes to subsidize their crack cocaine and heroin addictions, Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty said at the time.
The Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office arrested the couple outside a Hallowell pawnshop in Sept. 2009 and later recovered valuables worth approximately $75,000 from Vitale’s Augusta home.
The loot included family heirlooms, military medals and other items irreplaceable to their owners, Liberty said.
According to media reports, the pair skipped bail and allegedly committed several more crimes before Vermont State Police arrested them in Vershire, Vt. after a car chase.
Greenlaw and Vitale often entered through an unlocked door or window, snagging a pillowcase and filling it with valuables.
If the couple, after their release, fails to comply with their conditions of probation, including timely restitution payments, they might return to jail for the remainder of their sentences.
