GREENVILLE — A man arrested with two others for burglarizing a Versailles home will spend the next three years behind bars.
On Thursday, Darke County Common Pleas Court Judge Jonathan P. Hein sentenced Jheramy Andress, 31, of Piqua, to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony charge of burglary.
Andress was arrested June 18 by Troy Police Officers at a hotel in Troy. He, along with co-defendants Cody Dircksen and Olivia Sanford, broke into a residence on Martz Road in Versailles and removed traveler’s checks and coins from the home, some coins in jars and others still in their collectible packaging. The trio then drove to the Walmart store in Piqua and the Kroger store in Troy where they cashed in many of the coins in Coinstar machines.
Andress and Sanford were taken into custody at the hotel. Dircksen fled from police and was captured at gunpoint a short time later under a nearby highway underpass. A fourth person at the hotel, Brooke Montgomery, was also arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Dircksen received a four-year prison sentence October 4 for his role in the burglary. Sanford, who acted as the driver for the three, was sentenced to community control.
Darke County Assistant Prosecutor Deborah Quigley recommended Andress receive a three-year term in prison, noting that when the burglary was committed, he was already on parole for a prior burglary.
Andress was represented in court by defense attorney Dave Rohrer, who, while admitting Andress deserved to serve time for the offense, asked the court to also offer some form of drug rehabilitation for the defendant.
“Jheramy’s been a drug addict since he was 12 years old, he’s been on meth since he was 15 years old, and now he’s 31,” said Rohrer. “Jheramy has never had an opportunity in drug rehab.”
“I’ve been dealing with addiction for a long time,” Andress told the court. “I know I did wrong, I understand that, so I know I’m going to do some time. I just ask, maybe somewhere down the road, give me some treatment or help me get some treatment.”
Noting the serious nature of the offense and the defendant’s criminal history, Judge Hein sentenced Andress to three years in prison, with 115 days in jail credited. He will be subject to three years of mandatory post-release supervision. In addition, he was ordered to pay court costs and to pay $1,083.38 in restitution jointly with his co-defendants.
