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A Kremmling man who pled guilty to criminal trespassing following a string of car burglaries last year was sentenced to jail time and supervised probation on Thursday morning.
Grand County District Court Judge Mary Hoak sentenced James Walter Russell, 23, to six years of supervised probation and 270 days in jail for three Class-5 felony counts of first-degree criminal trespassing.
Hoak sentenced Russell to two years supervised probation and 90 days in jail for each count. The sentences will run consecutively, however, Russell received credit for time served, meaning he will only face a jail sentence of 228 days.
Russell pled guilty to the charges in March. He faced up to nine years in jail.
Authorities first identified Russell, along with Brook Lynn Ewing, 21, of Kremmling, in late October in connection with dozens of car burglaries that had occurred in Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs and Kremmling.
“We had followed up on some leads from some evidence and after following up on those leads it directed us to those two people (Russell and Ewing),” Kremmling Police Chief Jamie Lucas said in November.
Ewing was taken into custody on charges of possession of a Schedule II narcotic and drug paraphernalia on Oct. 29, 2018 and was subsequently released on bond. At that time, Russell already had warrants out for his arrest related to charges of criminal trespassing, criminal possession of a financial transaction device, unauthorized use of a financial transaction device and theft. He was placed into the National Crime Information Computer.
Kremmling Police received around 15 to 20 reports of car burglaries on the west side of Kremmling on Oct. 28 and 29.