Man gets rider for hiding inside CAL Ranch store, attempting to steal generators
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POCATELLO — A local man who plead guilty to burglary has been placed into the rider program.
Cody Abe Winterbottom, 32, was placed placed in the program with an underlying three- to eight-year prison sentence by 6th District Judge Robert Naftz at a sentencing hearing Monday.
A rider program is when a judge sends a person to prison for up to a year to undergo different treatment programs. When the inmate has completed the program, the judge can then decide to send them back to prison or release them on probation.
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The guilty plea was part of an agreement with the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office made in October. In exchange for his pleading guilty to a felony burglary charge, the prosecutor’s office dismissed a persistent violator enhancement against Winterbottom.
Winterbottom was found hiding inside the CAL Ranch store in Chubbuck by officers responding to a triggered alarm system.
Prior to locating Winterbottom, officers from the Chubbuck Police Department and Bannock County Sheriff’s Office described noticing several generators as being arranged and staged for a theft. The bay doors in the back of the store had been opened, triggering the alarm, and propped open with a generator in an unopened box.
After being released from jail, Winterbottom was again arrested for felony grand theft after stealing a vehicle in Idaho Falls.
Winterbottom reached a plea agreement in that case as well, pleading guilty to grand theft in exchange for the dismissal of a felony heroin possession charge, as well as misdemeanor charges for possession of paraphernalia and petit theft.
He received a rider with an underlying three- to 11-year prison sentence for that charge, as well as $1,245.50 in fees and fines.
The rider sentences for both crimes will be served concurrently.
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For his burglary at the CAL Ranch, Winterbottom was ordered to pay $695.50 in fees and fines. The plea agreement also leaves him responsible for restitution payment, the amount of which will be determined at a later court date.