3 plead guilty to church burglary

By Staff
Melissa Cason
Franklin County Times
Three individuals pled guilty to multiple counts of theft and burglary involving numerous church burglaries in Franklin County dating from February and July 2006.
Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said Jeremy Hargett, James Dixon, and Kevin Pounders all pled guilty for burglarizing 10 churches in Franklin County.
"Hargett was charged with all of the burglaries taking place in February and July of 2006," Rushing said.
Hargett agreed to plea guilty on two counts of theft and one count of burglaries and to serve 15 years in prison for his part in the crimes. Hargett is seeking probation or Community Corrections as an alternative sentence. However, the state opposes anything less than prison time.
"We strongly oppose probation in the Hargett cases because of the number of counts and the intentional damage done to church property," Rushing said.
Dixon pled guilty to one count of theft and one count of burglary with 12 years to serve. Rushing said he is also seeking alternative sentencing, which the state is opposing.
Pounders pled guilty to two counts of theft and one count of burglary with 12 years to serve. Pounders is also asking for alternative sentencing for his crimes as well.
"These pleas will put all three over the three felony provision in the state, and we oppose them serving their sentence on probation or Community Corrections," Rushing said.
He added that churches and homes are places of importance to people so his office feels that their punishments should be severe because of the nature of their crimes.
Rushing added that no sentencing date has been set this time and trio remains out on bond.