A 30-year-old Montgomery County man described as a "prolific serial burglar" will spend the next 50 years behind bars.
Prosecutors say many of James Cobb's victims were friends or neighbors, usually those who refused his repeated requests for money. In February, he broke into the Germantown home of a neighbor, where he broke open the walls to steal copper wiring and piping. During that incident, he was out on bond for being arrested earlier in the month for burglarizing another neighbor's home.
Prosecutors estimate he stole $50,000 in jewelery alone from his neighbors within about a year.
He's also targeted a Shell gas station owned by a former employer, where he smashed a cash register, took $300 and come cartons of cigarettes.
In sentencing him to 50 years in prison, the judge cited Cobb's long criminal history.
"The significance is that we had a man who had been in and out of the criminal justice system, doing a 'life on the installment' plan and then finally, [a judge], after realizing [Cobb] had been given repeated chances continued to victimize friends, former employees, said, 'Enough is enough,'" Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said.
