CHARLOTTE, N.C. – LaJames Ross, 18, pled guilty Monday, December 10, 2012, to two counts of felony breaking and entering and two counts of felony larceny. He entered his plea before The Honorable Timothy S. Kincaid, Superior Court Judge.
The offenses stemmed from two break-in cases; one in October 2011 and the other in January 2012. Judge Kincaid sentenced Ross to 8-10 months in prison for one case and 8-19 months in prison for the second. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
On October 5, 2011, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers saw Ross walking on Glenmont Drive in Charlotte, carrying a laptop bag and a box and pulling a suitcase. When officers approached, Ross dropped the items and ran. Police discovered that the items had been taken from a nearby home. The victim who lived there told police that several belongings had been stolen, including a laptop, Nintendo and Sony PlayStation video game systems, video games, a paintball gun and jewelry. Ross was arrested the next day and placed in Mecklenburg County Jail.
Ross posted bond on November 19, 2011, and was released from jail. As part of his release, he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor from the Charlotte -Mecklenburg Police Department’s Electronic Monitoring Unit.
On January 11, 2012, a man returned to his home on Bald Ridge Drive in Charlotte to find his front door open and his back door kicked in. Two televisions, a Sony PlayStation 3, a laptop, a digital camera, a purse and cash had been stolen, the victim told police. Police investigating the January incident identified Ross as a suspect after the Electronic Monitoring Unit’s crime scene correlation technology showed that Ross, who was wearing his ankle bracelet, was at the victim’s home on January 11, 2012. Ross confessed to his involvement in the crime when investigators confronted him with evidence that electronic monitoring had tracked him to the victim’s home.
Note: Almost all guilty pleas entered in criminal administrative court are the result of an agreed upon plea arrangement between the State and the defendant, which is then approved by the sentencing judge. For more information about why most cases must be resolved by plea negotiation instead of jury trial, please visit the “Understanding Criminal Court” section of the DA’s website at www.charmeckda.com.
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