Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Burglary Cases — Identified in Facebook Photo

He will serve that sentence concurrent with two five-year sentences ordered in prior burglary cases.

Smith was sentenced to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, and later placed on probation, after pleading guilty in April 2012 to two counts of second-degree burglary in break-ins that occurred in August 2011, according to online court documents.

The same day he pleaded guilty to the Dec. 8, 2012, burglary, Smith also entered guilty pleas to charges of first-degree burglary and deviate sexual assault in an Aug. 6, 2011, case, and to second-degree burglary in a case reported July 23, 2011. He was sentenced to five years in that case.

Circuit Judge Ike Lamke ordered that all three sentences be served concurrently.

Facebook Photo

In the Dec. 8 burglary, Smith entered a home in the 400 block of Doris Merello Drive about 3:20 a.m. and was stealing electronics and other items when the homeowner woke up to the sound of her dogs barking and confronted the man.

The victim was able to get a good description before he fled out the back door with stolen items, the sheriff’s office reported. The woman then called the sheriff’s office to report the break-in.

Later that day, the victim contacted the sheriff’s office and said she had received information that Smith had been seen in the area and that she positively identified him in a Facebook photograph.

Officers then found the suspect at his home in the Virginia Place Apartments in Sullivan. Sullivan police, who were investigating another burglary inside the city limits, also responded to assist and recovered items stolen in the Oak Grove Village burglary and another burglary in Sullivan, authorities reported.