MONROE - A Darlington man so "brazen" that he stole from his friends was sentenced to a stringent probation Wednesday, July 18 in Green County Circuit Court.
Steven B. DeVoe, 42, was sentenced to one year in jail with Huber Law work-release privileges and 7 1/2 years of probation, on the conditions that he pay $6,029 in restitution and court fees, continue mental health counseling, seek financial counseling, sell his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and collector car, and pay off liens. He must also seek his probation agent's permission for any purchase more than $100.
If he breaks any terms of his probation, DeVoe is ordered to go straight to prison. Judge James Beer imposed but withheld a sentence of four years in prison and three years of extended supervision.
DeVoe's wife, one of several people who came to the hearing, sobbed as Beer read the sentence.
Beer said the sentence in Green County will "dovetail" with DeVoe's sentencing in Lafayette County next Wednesday, July 25, on more than a dozen similar felony charges.
DeVoe pleaded guilty and is convicted of stealing numerous vehicles and trailers in the area and then selling them online, dating as far back as 2007.
In Green County, court records indicate he stole a trailer worth $3,718 from Maple Leaf Cheese Co-op in August 2009, broke into a shed on Monroe-Sylvester Road and stole two all-terrain vehicles worth a total of $5,000 and a motorcycle worth $1,500 in April 2010, and stole a trailer worth $1,500 from a residence on County B in the Town of Cadiz in December 2010.
Some of the items have been returned to their owners, according to Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl.
Kohl called the case "bizarre." DeVoe has an extensive criminal record, but his past offenses were mainly alcohol-related, including six convictions of driving while intoxicated. It's very unusual, Kohl said, for someone DeVoe's age to "branch out" into a new kind of criminal behavior.
DeVoe struggled with alcoholism for most of his life but in recent years stopped drinking, according to his probation agent, Roger McDermott.
"He seems to have gotten that under control," McDermott told the court. In preparing a pre-sentence investigation profile of DeVoe, McDermott told Beer he had struggled with his recommendation of jail time and probation. He said victims he interviewed told him restitution meant more to them than seeing DeVoe go to prison.
"They were out the money," he said.
Defense attorney Richard McCue agreed that probation was most appropriate for DeVoe, who he said is raising a 13-year-old son, is married and makes enough to pay off his restitution in a timely fashion.
When given the opportunity to speak before Beer read his sentence, DeVoe apologized and said there was no reason for his thefts.
"I personally wouldn't want anyone to steal from me," he said, adding that he was working with a counselor to figure out why he did what he did.
"There's no doubt in my mind about your guilt," Beer told him. The thefts were "brazen" and "stupid and harmful."
"You need a great deal of probation," Beer said. "You can turn your life around, but it's all up to you."
Beer is assigned DeVoe's cases in Lafayette County and will be handling the sentencing next week.
Steven B. DeVoe, 42, was sentenced to one year in jail with Huber Law work-release privileges and 7 1/2 years of probation, on the conditions that he pay $6,029 in restitution and court fees, continue mental health counseling, seek financial counseling, sell his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and collector car, and pay off liens. He must also seek his probation agent's permission for any purchase more than $100.
If he breaks any terms of his probation, DeVoe is ordered to go straight to prison. Judge James Beer imposed but withheld a sentence of four years in prison and three years of extended supervision.
DeVoe's wife, one of several people who came to the hearing, sobbed as Beer read the sentence.
Beer said the sentence in Green County will "dovetail" with DeVoe's sentencing in Lafayette County next Wednesday, July 25, on more than a dozen similar felony charges.
DeVoe pleaded guilty and is convicted of stealing numerous vehicles and trailers in the area and then selling them online, dating as far back as 2007.
In Green County, court records indicate he stole a trailer worth $3,718 from Maple Leaf Cheese Co-op in August 2009, broke into a shed on Monroe-Sylvester Road and stole two all-terrain vehicles worth a total of $5,000 and a motorcycle worth $1,500 in April 2010, and stole a trailer worth $1,500 from a residence on County B in the Town of Cadiz in December 2010.
Some of the items have been returned to their owners, according to Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl.
Kohl called the case "bizarre." DeVoe has an extensive criminal record, but his past offenses were mainly alcohol-related, including six convictions of driving while intoxicated. It's very unusual, Kohl said, for someone DeVoe's age to "branch out" into a new kind of criminal behavior.
DeVoe struggled with alcoholism for most of his life but in recent years stopped drinking, according to his probation agent, Roger McDermott.
"He seems to have gotten that under control," McDermott told the court. In preparing a pre-sentence investigation profile of DeVoe, McDermott told Beer he had struggled with his recommendation of jail time and probation. He said victims he interviewed told him restitution meant more to them than seeing DeVoe go to prison.
"They were out the money," he said.
Defense attorney Richard McCue agreed that probation was most appropriate for DeVoe, who he said is raising a 13-year-old son, is married and makes enough to pay off his restitution in a timely fashion.
When given the opportunity to speak before Beer read his sentence, DeVoe apologized and said there was no reason for his thefts.
"I personally wouldn't want anyone to steal from me," he said, adding that he was working with a counselor to figure out why he did what he did.
"There's no doubt in my mind about your guilt," Beer told him. The thefts were "brazen" and "stupid and harmful."
"You need a great deal of probation," Beer said. "You can turn your life around, but it's all up to you."
Beer is assigned DeVoe's cases in Lafayette County and will be handling the sentencing next week.