Two sentenced after guilty pleas to break-ins

Published 10:27 am Friday, March 19, 2010

A man accused of breaking into an old school building and a man accused of breaking into the Ironton city garage were among those entering guilty Wednesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

Jeremy Riffe, 32, of Greenup, Ky., pleaded guilty to one count of complicity to commit breaking and entering. He was arrested in connection with the January break-in at the old West Ironton School.

Judge Charles Cooper sentenced Riffe to eight months in prison but allowed Riffe to serve that time concurrently with any prison sentence he gets in Kentucky.

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He told Cooper he was on parole in the Bluegrass State and his arrest in Ohio violated that parole.

“The only thing I want to add is, I want to get back to Kentucky and face what I’ve got to face over there,” Riffe said.

Also Wednesday, Ryan E. Cooper, 31, of 807 N. Fifth St., Ironton, pleaded guilty to one count of breaking and entering. Cooper sentenced Ryan Cooper to seven months in prison and ordered him to pay $3,541.98 in restitution.

Ryan Cooper was accused of breaking into the Ironton city garage in January.

Rebecca Anderson, 29, of 210 Susan St., Proctorville, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen property. Judge D. Scott Bowling sentenced her to four years community control sanctions under intensive supervised probation and ordered her to complete a rehabilitation program at the STAR Community Justice Center successfully.

Jeffrey A. Penwell, 59, of 289 Township Road 155E, Pedro, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

In exchange for his guilty plea, one felony charge of assault on a peace officer was dismissed.

Bowling sentenced Penwell to 30 days in jail but suspended the jail stay and placed Penwell on one-year probation.