Three young men who burglarized and trashed a Hephzibah-area school and youth program building will avoid jail time.
The defendants, Bryan McCook, Charles Weston and Destin Newman were textbook “young, dumb and senseless” when they repeatedly entered McBean Elementary and Fresh Start for Boys over several days in May 2020, prosecutor Daniel Welsh told the court Friday.
Then 17- and 18-year-old high school dropouts, the trio and a fourth defendant not sentenced Friday caused about $30,000 worth of damage to the buildings, although most was covered by insurance.
They left behind broken glass and classroom damage at the school and sprayed a fire extinguisher and trashed the boys program with broken glass, oil, food, paint and other debris, Welsh said.
The then-teens said they caused the damage because they were “bored,” he said.
McCook, Weston and co-defendant Noah Jernigan each were charged with four counts of second-degree burglary and second-degree criminal damage to property. Destin Newman was charged with two counts of burglary and criminal damage to property.
Three years later, each looked older than their teen mug shots. Their attorneys and mothers told the court they were changed young men. Each sought sentencing under Georgia’s First Offender Act.
McCook is a “totally different child,” his mother Mary Jackson said, with a different set of friends and his own transportation. The young man does good deeds for others and has a good job lined up, she said.
Weston is in a “very different place,” attorney Jordan Price said. He works in heating and air conditioning and has goals to move up in the field. Mother Jackie Coburn said Weston was having problems with authority figures at the time. “Now there’s never a problem,” she said.
Newman’s mother, Tiffany Newman, said her son had been having emotional problems after his sister left the family.
The defendants had no criminal history at the time of the crimes and none since, except for Newman, who was charged in February with felony possession of marijuana.
Richmond County Superior Court Judge Amanda Heath accepted the first-offender plea arrangement. She warned the young men they’ll face up to 25 years in prison if they violate terms of their first-offender sentences, a high price to pay “because you were bored.”
Heath sentenced McCook and Weston to five years probation on each of the five counts, to serve concurrently. They have to pay a $2,000 fine and $4,125 in restitution for the damage. They’re required to get their GEDs within two years and write a letter of apology to Fresh Start for Boys owner Teddy Crofton.
They’re also subject to random searches, random drug screens and and a curfew. But if they complete the requirements and stay out of trouble, their probation could be terminated after three years, she said.
Heath gave the same to Newman except limited his five years’ concurrent probation to the three counts.
