A pair of young burglars pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to 21 counts of burglary stemming from a month-long crime spree in four Lincoln County towns.
Andrew Longe, 20, of Walpole, and Nikolas Poland, 20, of Round Pond, will return to Lincoln County Superior Court for sentencing in January. Longe and Poland were 19 at the time of their April 13 arrest.
The pair, according to court documents and police statements, dismantled and stole copper pipes from 15 residences, two seasonal businesses and a municipal park. They also made off with high-end televisions and stereos, outboard motors, power tools and other items.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, at the time of the arrests, estimated the total value of the items at more than $60,000.
According to District Attorney Geoff Rushlau, Longe’s plea is open, meaning there is no agreement in place with regards to sentencing.
The state, as part of Poland’s plea agreement, will recommend an eight-year sentence with all but two years suspended and three years of probation to follow the two-year prison term.
Poland’s attorney “is permitted to argue for a lesser sentence,” according to a press release from Rushlau’s office.
Longe and Poland will also have to pay restitution, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright, the prosecutor in the case, said. “We don’t have a final figure,” he said, although many of the structures were “damaged pretty significantly” as a result of the copper removal.
The state will dismiss associated theft and criminal mischief charges, Wright said.
Rushlau commended Det. Sgt. Ken Hatch, Det. Terry Michaud and Det. Ronald Rollins, all of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigative Division, for their work on the case.
