Montana Man Gets 25 Years for String of Burglaries

A Great Falls, Mont., man who was found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in tools and personal items has been from garages and storage sheds has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The Great Falls Tribune reports District Judge John Warner called 31-year-old Robert Andrew Paliga a career thief during Monday’s sentencing and declined to suspend any of the prison time for the burglary and theft convictions.

One victim testified that he lost $12,000 in tools and personal items from a storage shed while another said nearly $6,000 in tools and other items were taken from his garage.

Only a small percentage of the items stolen in 2013 and 2014 were recovered and the victims testified some of the stolen property was irreplaceable.

Paliga told the judge he was not responsible for all of the thefts.