An Iowa City man was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison for a string of burglaries and thefts, starting back in 2021 and continued through January at various businesses in Iowa City.
Joshua Harley Kelley, 40, previously pleaded in Johnson County District Court to six felony charges: ongoing criminal conduct; third-degree burglary; possession of a controlled substance — third or subsequent offense; second-degree theft; first-degree criminal mischief; and offense of alteration of VIN- vehicle identification number. He also pleaded to fourth-degree theft, a serious misdemeanor.
Last Friday, 6th Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill ran two of the charges consecutively and some concurrently for a total of 35 years.
According to a criminal complaint, Kelley burglarized or stole items in more than one incident from McComas Lacina Construction and multiple times from Pace Properties, Rogers Shoes, Brandt Heating & Air Conditioning, Pyramid Services, Carousel Motors, Billion Auto, Ace Hardware an AM Management.
The combined property loss from the businesses was over $100,000, the complaint stated. During the investigation, police obtained a search warrant for Kelley’s storage unit and found all the stolen property from all the burglaries or thefts, except the van stolen from Billon Auto, which was recovered at a different location, according to the complaint.
According to a search warrant, police used GPS devices on Kelley’s vehicles to track his movements to determine where he was committing the crimes. They also obtained surveillance video from the businesses and other locations. Kelley was known to have a history of committing burglaries in the Iowa City area, police said.
He was charged with burglary by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for multiple incidents at Red Dot Storage in 2021, the affidavit stated. Evidence supports Kelley steals and illegally possesses license plates, according to the affidavit.
Kelley, who was unemployed, was selling or trading the stolen property in this case for financial gain and to support himself, according to the complaint.
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Joshua Harley Kelley, 40, previously pleaded in Johnson County District Court to six felony charges: ongoing criminal conduct; third-degree burglary; possession of a controlled substance — third or subsequent offense; second-degree theft; first-degree criminal mischief; and offense of alteration of VIN- vehicle identification number. He also pleaded to fourth-degree theft, a serious misdemeanor.
Last Friday, 6th Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill ran two of the charges consecutively and some concurrently for a total of 35 years.
According to a criminal complaint, Kelley burglarized or stole items in more than one incident from McComas Lacina Construction and multiple times from Pace Properties, Rogers Shoes, Brandt Heating & Air Conditioning, Pyramid Services, Carousel Motors, Billion Auto, Ace Hardware an AM Management.
The combined property loss from the businesses was over $100,000, the complaint stated. During the investigation, police obtained a search warrant for Kelley’s storage unit and found all the stolen property from all the burglaries or thefts, except the van stolen from Billon Auto, which was recovered at a different location, according to the complaint.
According to a search warrant, police used GPS devices on Kelley’s vehicles to track his movements to determine where he was committing the crimes. They also obtained surveillance video from the businesses and other locations. Kelley was known to have a history of committing burglaries in the Iowa City area, police said.
He was charged with burglary by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for multiple incidents at Red Dot Storage in 2021, the affidavit stated. Evidence supports Kelley steals and illegally possesses license plates, according to the affidavit.
Kelley, who was unemployed, was selling or trading the stolen property in this case for financial gain and to support himself, according to the complaint.
Iowa City man sentenced to 35 years for string of burglaries
An Iowa City man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a several burglaries and thefts at local businesses. Police say he was selling the stolen items to support himself. The stolen items totaled over $100,000.
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