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Gary Maccune weeps during his sentencing in circuit court. Pictured at right is his attorney, Al Swanson, Jr.
Man sentenced to 7-40 years in prison for break-ins.
#MasonCountyNews #CourtNews
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor
LUDINGTON — A 26-year-old Sheridan Township man was sentenced to 7-40 years in prison in 51st Circuit Court Tuesday, April 11, for two convictions of breaking and entering with intent and fourth-offense habitual offender in connection to break-ins last August at Fountain Lumber Company and a pole barn.
Gary Dean Maccune, of 2295 N. 34th Street, will serve two 7-40 terms concurrently, said Judge Susan K. Sniegowski. Maccune wept as the judge handed down his sentence.
Maccune’s co-defendant Louis John Metheny Jr., 38, of 823 N. Benson Road, Fountain, was sentenced to an 8-40 year prison stint after pleading “no contest” to the same charges.
The pair were charged with eight felonies apiece in connection with the break-ins. They have been lodged in the Mason County Jail on $15,000 bonds since their arrests. The other charges were dismissed in plea agreements.
No additional charges are being pursued against Maccune or Metheny in Mason or Oceana counties as part of their plea agreements, Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola said. They were ordered to pay $34,897.42 in restitution that is joint and several.
The pair were on parole at the time of the offense, and their prison terms run consecutively to any parole sanctions they receive.
“I kicked the door in,” Maccune testified during an earlier hearing, explaining to Sniegowski how he gained access to the pole building on Mavis Road.
The nine months he has served in jail does not count toward his jail credit, because he was on parole at the time he committed the crimes.
“I wish I could have changed it, but it’s too late now,” Maccune said as he cried. “I’m sorry.”
“This was a course of action — not a single offense,” the judge said. “When you get out of the prison system, I hope you make some serious changes in your life.”
Due to their habitual offender designations, both men were facing up to life in prison.
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