Teen jailed for role in burglary ring

SANDPOINT — One of the defendants in a prolific burglary ring that was broken by a confiscated iPhone was given a suspended prison term Monday and ordered to serve 30 days in jail.
Richard Justin Wilkerson apologized to the court and expressed a desire to make amends.
“What I’ve done is not truly who I am,” Wilkerson told 1st District Judge Steve Verby.
Wilkerson, 18, was charged with seven counts of grand theft and one count of burglary in connection with a wave of heists that targeted two churches in Kootenai and landowners in and around Sandpoint.
In exchange for a plea of guilt to burglarizing the Cedar Hills Church, the remaining theft counts were dismissed court records show.
One of the theft victims told Verby that Wilkerson was boasting on a social media website.
“He is bragging on Facebook that he is going to get off,” the victim said.
Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon recommended a suspended one- to three-year prison term and 30 days of incarceration at the Bonner County Jail.
Verby asked the victim who spoke what would be an appropriate sentence, but the woman, a local attorney, left it to the court’s discretion. Verby also asked Wilkerson why he engaged in the misconduct.
Wilkerson replied that he was running with the wrong crowd and that the heists “were something to do,” court documents state.
Verby adopted the state’s sentence recommendations and put Wilkerson on probation for four years. Wilkerson was further ordered to complete 500 hours of community service.
Restitution in the case is pending.
Wilkerson was one of five defendants arrested in connection with the rash of burglaries last fall. David Dean Combs Jr., Peter Franklin Goulette, Kai Richard Leach, Skyler Christopher Tucker were also implicated in the break-ins.
Goulette, 19, and Tucker, 21, were sentenced to prison last month, but the court retained jurisdiction over the defendants. The duo will serve up to a year in prison before a decision is made to place them on probation or order them further imprisoned.
Leach, 18, was placed on supervised probation and faces additional court proceedings over a felony battery charge for allegedly sexually assaulting a pre-teen girl in January.
Combs, 17, was to be sentenced on Monday, although it was postponed so he could undergo a psychological evaluation, court records indicate. A new hearing date is pending.
The burglary ring was dismantled last fall, after one of the suspect’s smartphones was confiscated and county juvenile corrections officials discovered incriminating photos, a sheriff’s report said.