CLEARFIELD – A Coalport man who identified himself as a federal agent after being caught inside a Jordan Township home pleaded guilty to burglary Tuesday.
State police say Larry Eugene Ricketts Jr., 50, was inside the residence when the victim returned home on Dec. 5.
The victim noticed a burgundy Jeep in his driveway and saw the glass of his front door had been smashed before Ricketts approached him, carrying a black pistol grip pump shotgun, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Ricketts told the victim he was a federal agent and gave his “badge number” before getting into the vehicle and leaving.
The victim was able to get the registration information on the vehicle and called police right away.
The gun Ricketts was carrying had been in the victim’s bedroom. Also missing was $100 worth of $1 gold coins and other ammunition.
The investigation revealed that shortly after the burglary, Ricketts used a gold coin to buy cigars at a nearby store.
Police stopped the vehicle and spoke with Ricketts, who matched the description of the “federal agent” the victim had seen in his home. The gun was observed in plain view on the front passenger side floor board.
After a search warrant was executed on the Jeep, police took the gun, and found ammunition and 75 of the coins.
During motions court Tuesday, Ricketts pleaded guilty to burglary and felony theft by unlawful taking. He apologized for “what I done.”
He was sentenced by Judge Paul E. Cherry to serve 15 months to five years in state prison. This period of incarceration will run consecutive to Ricketts’s current state prison sentence for a probation violation.
He also pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal mischief in a second case from Dec. 6. For this, Cherry gave him a concurrent sentence of three months to five years.
The criminal complaint in the second case details how investigators were dispatched to the former office building of Kitko Wood Products on Glen Hope Boulevard where they discovered someone had forced entry into the building, rummaged through drawers and opened doors.
When his vehicle was searched, officials found two new Kitko Wood Products ball caps in it.
