rockin'robin
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SUMTER, S.C. (AP) - A 56-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of stealing $900 worth of cigarettes while acting as his own attorney.
Solicitor Ernest "Chip" Finney III told The Sumter Item (http://bit.ly/1HDeeif ) that David Duren Jr. fell under South Carolina's three-strikes law, which allows a life sentence when someone is convicted of three serious crimes.
Duren was found guilty of second-degree burglary last week. He had been assigned two public defenders.
Finney says his prosecutors offered Duren a plea deal that would have sentenced him to no more than 15 years behind bars, but he rejected it.
Authorities say Duren broke in a store through the back wall in June 2011. He was linked to the crime through DNA from blood found on a freezer.
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/29145083/56-year-old-man-gets-life-for-stealing-900-of-cigarettes
Solicitor Ernest "Chip" Finney III told The Sumter Item (http://bit.ly/1HDeeif ) that David Duren Jr. fell under South Carolina's three-strikes law, which allows a life sentence when someone is convicted of three serious crimes.
Duren was found guilty of second-degree burglary last week. He had been assigned two public defenders.
Finney says his prosecutors offered Duren a plea deal that would have sentenced him to no more than 15 years behind bars, but he rejected it.
Authorities say Duren broke in a store through the back wall in June 2011. He was linked to the crime through DNA from blood found on a freezer.
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/29145083/56-year-old-man-gets-life-for-stealing-900-of-cigarettes