WOODRUFF MAN RECEIVES 35-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES

A Woodruff man received a 35-year prison sentence today for a series of residential burglaries that involved more than $140,000 worth of stolen property.

Michael Shane Johnson, 22, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, four counts of grand larceny and receiving stolen goods. He received a thirty-five (35) year sentence from Circuit Judge Wyatt Saunders after he received two consecutive fifteen (15) year sentences on two of the first-degree burglary charges and another five (5) year consecutive sentence on one of the Grand Larceny charges. He will serve 85 percent of Judge Saunders' prison sentence on the two first-degree burglary charges before he is eligible for release.

Johnson broke into the Woodruff-area homes in May. The burglaries occurred during the day while the homeowners worked and the stolen items included jewelry, guns and electronic equipment and other valuables.

Interviews with people in the surrounding neighborhoods helped sheriff’s deputies identify Johnson and his girlfriend, Tracey Michelle Richards, 25, as suspects. Johnson and Richards admitted their involvement in the crime spree when deputies confronted them. The couple sold a lot of the stolen property.

“It was a series of very personal crimes,” Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette said. “The defendants took some sentimental valuables and they robbed the victims of the sense of security that everyone should feel in their homes.”

Johnson was serving a probationary sentence for grand larceny when he was arrested on the new charges.

First-degree burglary, grand larceny and receiving stolen goods charges are still pending on Richards.