Jones County District Attorney Tony Buckley hopes the pastors and members of the four churches burglarized by a Jones county man a year ago can rest a little easier now since one has now been sentenced to prison.
Buckley said Delvin Stamps, 21, of Soso, pled guilty to two counts of church burglary and three counts of damaging church property in the Jones County Circuit Court Tuesday. He was indicted for breaking into two churches — Mount Williams and Old Palestine Baptist churches in Smith County in September of 2008.
Stamps also was indicted for damaging property at Old Missionary Church and Gitano United Methodist Church. He received a total sentence of 14 years, six years suspended with eight years to serve in the penitentiary.
“This sentence reflects that we won’t tolerate people breaking into or damaging local church property,” said Buckley. “I would also like to thank Investigator Carla McMahan with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office for her investigation of this case.”
Jones County Sheriff Alex Hodge said the team work of the Jones County and Smith County Sheriff’s departments was instrumental in putting together a strong case for the District Attorney’s Office.
“When people decide to enter a guilty plea, it’s mainly because there is enough good evidence to convict them of the crime,” said Hodge. “We appreciate the people for being very patient with us. They gave us time to get our job done and to do things right.”
Hodge recalled a day when people wouldn’t think of burglarizing or stealing from a church. He noted , however: “We are living in a day and time when people pretty much will steal from anyone they can get anything from.
“They don’t care if it’s a family member, business, church or what have you. In the environment we are living in today, it’s important for everybody to be on guard. People should not be afraid to call law enforcement if they see something going on in their communities.”
Hodge said the sheriff’s department believes the more law enforcement officers and community residents work together as a a team, the better the cities and county will be.
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