Disrupting telephone service will cost a Crown City man 17 months of freedom.

Dale A. Blake, 29, of 4833 Clay Chapel Road, pleaded guilty Wednesday on a bill of information to charges of grand theft and disrupting a public service in connection with the theft of AT&T telephone lines in the Waterloo area last month.

In addition to the 17-month prison sentence, Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge D. Scott Bowling ordered Blake to pay $6,409.96 restitution to AT&T.

With good behavior, Blake could be granted judicial release after 12 months so he can go to work and pay that restitution.

Blake and another man, Raymond Rose, 25, of 1229 Davis Road, Crown City, were arrested Sept. 29 after they were found stripping stolen telephone lines to get the copper wire out of them.

Two Waterloo residents who had lost their landline service told authorities they had driven to an area a half mile from their home to get cellular coverage when they found Blake and Rose stripping the copper wire.

Approximately 1,800 feet of wire was taken.

By pleading guilty on a bill of information, Blake admits to his crimes without having the matter heard by either a grand jury or common pleas jury and steps to the sentencing phase.

Also Wednesday, Johnny R. Hennen Jr., 24, whose address is listed as “unknown, Scottown,” pleaded guilty on a bill of information to possession of drugs.

Bowling sentenced him to six months in prison and ordered him to pay $1,000 restitution to his victim.

In another case, Lyle E. Lycans, 38, of Proctorville, pleaded guilty to one count of theft.

He was sentenced to four years community control sanctions under intensive supervised probation and ordered to pay $4,473 restitution to his victim.

He must also successfully complete a rehabilitation program at the STAR Community Justice Center.