CAPE GIRARDEAU — An Alton couple was sentenced Thursday afternoon for possessing stolen firearms that were taken from homes and cabins in Ripley County.
Kyle King and Sandy Edwards appeared before U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Sr. after having pleaded guilty to the felony of possession of stolen firearms.
King was sentenced to two years in federal prison, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Sorrell.
Upon King’s release from prison, Sorrell said, he will be placed on a two-year period of supervised release.
Sorrell said Limbaugh placed Edwards on three years of probation.
The agreed-upon facts of the cases say beginning in January 2019, several people with homes and cabins in Ripley County reported burglaries had occurred and personal property was stolen.
According to an earlier report in The Prospect-News, 20 burglaries were reported in three counties, including 11 in Ripley County on Highway C near Carter County.
The property reported stolen included nine firearms — a Para-Ordnance .45-caliber pistol and Interarms .40-caliber pistol from Steve Worrell; a Browning .30-06 rifle; Smith & Wesson .223-caliber rifle; Benelli 12-gauge shotgun; Ruger .22-caliber rifle and two Remington 12-gauge shotguns from Michael Gilbert; and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun from Natalie Smith.
Two other homeowners, according to the plea agreements, contacted the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department and reported their security cameras had recorded a photograph of a vehicle associated with the burglaries.
“One of the security cameras recorded Kyle King and Sandy Edwards at the location of a burglary,” the plea agreements further say. “That vehicle turned out to be a vehicle used by Kyle King and Sandy Edwards.”
Officers located King and Edwards on Feb. 2, the plea agreements say.
King and Edwards admitted they “assisted in burglarizing the cabins and homes and stealing firearms,” the plea agreements further say.
King and Edwards reportedly were able to return seven firearms to the officers.
The Benelli shotgun and Remington 12-gauge shotgun, owned by Gilbert, reportedly were not recovered.
Edwards, according to her plea agreement, denies stealing or assisting in the stealing of those two shotguns from the Gilbert cabin.
At the time King and Edwards “obtained possession of the firearms from the cabins, (each) knew that the firearms were stolen,” the plea agreements say.