Austin Robert Burch, 24, of Arnold has been sentenced to seven years in prison following three felony convictions and probation violations, according to court documents.
On Nov. 9, 2018, Jefferson County Div. 2 Circuit Judge Darrell E. Missey executed three seven-year prison terms Burch previously was sentenced to for burglary, possession of a controlled substance and receiving stolen property. The sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time, court records indicate.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney David C. Casey handled the cases.
In May 2016, Burch went to a home on Ashford Place in Festus and stole a .380-caliber Smith and Wesson pistol and a Sony DVD player. The gun was valued at $350, and the DVD player was valued at $100, the probable-cause statement said.
Burch pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, and he was sentenced to seven years in prison. However, the sentence was suspended, and he was placed on five years’ probation, court records said.
On Feb. 7, 2017, Burch was found passed out near an apartment in the 900 block of Pevely Pointe Drive. He had kicked in a door to one of the units, damaging the door and walls around the doorway, and stole narcotics. He was found with a needle and a clear capsule containing a heroin-like substance in a pocket of his shorts, the probable-cause statement said.
On Feb. 21, 2017, Burch entered a home on Oak View Drive in Festus through the back window and ransacked the residence looking for illegal drugs. When officers arrived, Burch was found in the home with stolen property in his pocket and a pile of illegal drugs and paraphernalia was on the floor, the report said.
Burch pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and burglary for the February 2017 incidents, and he was sentenced in December 2017 to seven years for each charge. However, he was released in April 2018 after completing a treatment program and was placed on five years’ probation, court records said.
He violated the probation, though, and the three previous sentences were executed.
Burch currently is in the Western Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center in St. Joseph.