MONROE — An Illinois man pleaded guilty June 29 in Green County Circuit Court to the burglary of over $27,000 worth of cellphones from a New Glarus store last summer.

Mikel Laron Ewing, 22, formerly of Bristol and now an inmate at the Pontiac Correctional Center, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is being allowed to serve his time at the central Illinois prison and concurrent to any sentence in Illinois.

Judge Thomas Vale also ordered him to spend three years on extended supervision after his release from prison.

Ewing pleaded guilty to the Class F charge of burglary as well as a misdemeanor charge of possessing marijuana. A felony theft charge and misdemeanor charges of criminal damage to property and possessing drug paraphernalia were dismissed but “read in,” meaning the judge could consider them at sentencing.

The case stems from a burglary in the early morning hours of June 15, 2017, at Five Star Cellular, 1305 Wisconsin 69, in New Glarus.

Ewing and his co-defendant, Daesha Tanae Rayford, 20, Plano, Illinois, conspired to break into the store and steal 36 cellphones with a combined value of $27,555, according to court records.

Surveillance video from Five Star Cellular showed that people with covered faces wearing headlamps used a crowbar to break into the store.

Police apprehended Rayford and Ewing nearby. Interviewed separately, the couple gave conflicting stories of why they were in the area.

Rayford pleaded no contest in March to a lesser felony theft charge related to the burglary, with other charges dismissed as part of a plea deal. She was sentenced to 18 months on probation. If she successfully completes her probation, she’s eligible to have the conviction expunged from her record under a state law that grants leniency to some young offenders.