Lebanon man gets 2-5 years for his part in New Durham burglary ring

John Laflesh (Somersworth Police photo)

DOVER - A Lebanon man will spend at least two and a half years behind bars after pleading guilty to charges connected to a series of burglaries in New Durham in 2016.

John Laflesh 29, of 764 Upper Guinea Road, Lebanon, Maine, pleaded guilty on Tuesday as part of a capped plea agreement; a capped plea mean the guilty plea was agreed to, in part, on a judge's promise not to impose a sentence greater than a specified term or range of imprisonment.

Laflesh was sentenced to two concurrent two and a half to five year sentences on two burglary counts, and a single three to six year sentence on a separate burglary charge as well as a single conspiracy to commit burglary count.

From left, Anthony Hood, Steven Hood and Rachelle Kimball (Rochester Police photos); John LaFlesh (Somersworth Police photo)

Laflesh also had 292 days of jailtime credit, which will be applied to his sentence.

Laflesh was part of burglary ring that comprised four individuals, including Anthony Hood, a transient with ties to Milton who pleaded guilty earlier this month and got two to four years in prison; Rachelle Kimball, 37, of Pebblestone Lane, Rochester, who reached a plea deal last February; and Anthony Hood's brother, Steven Hood, 28, of 492 White Mountain Hwy, Milton, who has a warrant out for him after ending his Community Corrections supervision.

Most of the burglaries took place in August 2016 in the area of Meaderboro Road and Ten Rod Road.

"They were pretty well organized and had been doing it for a while in the area," New Durham Police Chief Shawn Bernier said soon after the four were indicted.

Bernier said a big break in the case came after one of the homeowners provided surveillance video of the suspects in action, while another break occurred after officers came upon two men who were later developed as suspects allegedly acting as lookouts for the others.

Court documents allege that Kimball, in concert with the Hood brothers and LaFlesh, did at least one of the following: agreed to drive to the area of Ten Road Road, New Durham, acted as a lookout, had a false story prepared if someone was home at the residence; and that then LaFlesh and Steven Hood entered the residence; and that LaFlesh and Steven Hood took items from the house.

Bernier said most of the houses were unoccupied at the time of the alleged burglaries, but not all.

Some of the items stolen included laptops, silver coins, cash and electronics, Bernier said, adding that one residence that apparently yielded little in the way of loot was completely trashed with holes put in the walls and broken glass everywhere.

After an investigation that lasted about a month, police were able to develop enough evidence to obtain arrest warrants for the four suspects. Indictments were handed down a year ago.