For the second straight week, a Charlevoix County man was sentenced to prison for stealing drugs.

Trent Jay Cowles, 20, Boyne Falls, was sentenced to serve 30 to 48 months in prison related to an incident which occurred on May 9, 2017 in Hayes Township. Cowles and three other men gained entry to the residence through a window. They were all wearing ski masks.  Cowles was brandishing a fiberglass driveway marker stake. When questioned by police, the men admitted they stole drugs, drug paraphernalia and a gun from the home.

Cowles pleaded guilty to larceny in a building and assault with a dangerous weapon, both felonies with a maximum penalty of four years in prison. In exchange for these guilty pleas, the more serious charge of conspiracy to commit first degree home invasion, a twenty-year felony, was dismissed.

After imposing sentence, Circuit Court Judge Roy C. Hayes III indicated that at a later date he would consider allowing Cowles to serve his time with the Michigan Department of Corrections through the Special Alternative Incarceration program. This program is commonly referred to as “boot camp.”

“We hear repeatedly that the use of drugs is a victimless crime,” Charlevoix County Prosecuting Attorney Allen Telgenhof said. “However, over and over we see that people who use drugs commit other crimes to fuel their habits. The drugs also cause them to make poor decisions.”

Last week Judge Hayes sentenced Trevor James Blackwell of Charlevoix to prison for tampering with evidence and the theft of medical marijuana plants from two locations in Charlevoix County. Cowles was also a co-defendant in one of those thefts. On that charge, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of larceny over $200 but less than $1,000 in the 90^th District Court.