Despite a request to rescind the guilty plea entered on July 15, a Pagosa Springs man was sentenced to 20 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections for his involvement in a series of burglaries and other events that took place prior to his arrest in early 2014.
The sentence was handed down by Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Gregory Lyman Tuesday.
Shawn Wester, 37, received the 20-year sentence — which comes with five years of mandatory parole and more than $71,000 in restitution — after entering a guilty plea to one count of burglary, a class-three felony, as part of a plea deal that included a possible sentencing range of eight to 24 years.
Wester was originally charged with 17 counts following a series of incidents in Archuleta, La Plata and Saguache counties. Those charges included six counts of burglary, four counts related to his habitual offender status and one count of each of the following: theft, motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, second-degree arson, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and possession of a defaced firearm.
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