La Plata, MD – A home inspector who took property from a house he was inspecting was sentenced to 90 days in jail by Charles County Circuit Court Judge James H. West Monday, Jan. 5.

Victor Levi Thomas Jr., 32 of Hollywood, MD was facing sentencing on five counts, including: burglary-first degree, theft of $1,000 to under $10,000, malicious destruction Of property/value less than $500, conspiracy to commit burglary-third degree, and conspiracy to commit theft $1,000 to under $10,000, offenses that occurred Sept. 14, 2013.

Thomas pled to a reduced count of conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary.

“I was doing home inspections,” Thomas admitted to the court. “I wound up stealing from one of them.”

“Did it occur to you how much you had to lose?” West asked him. “Were you that reckless?”

“Reckless is not a word I would use to describe Mr. Thomas or his family,” Thomas’ attorney, Shane Mattingly, told the court.

Telling Thomas he was facing a 25-year felony, West gave the defendant a choice of serving 90 days on weekends with five years of supervised probation or he could do a year and a day, “and the case would be over,” the judge said.

“I can’t afford to do a year and a day,” Thomas said.

“With the weekends, you have to pay for the weekends,” West warned him, adding that his five years of supervised probation would begin immediately.

“If you violate your probation, that is not a place you want to be,” West stressed.

Mattingly asked that Thomas be allowed to serve his time in St. Mary’s County, “because that is where he resides.”

With that, West sentenced Thomas to five years in prison with all but 90 days suspended.

“You can start this weekend,” West told him. “Your sentence will be completed Jan. 11, 2016 and after that final weekend you will be on four years of supervised probation.”

West also told Thomas he had to pay restitution to the victim.

“Your work history is good,” the judge said. “From my first day on the bench I learned you can’t go into other people’s houses and steal things. I hope you are able to keep your job and the things you have worked for.”

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com