TERRE HAUTE — A convicted felon received a three-year prison sentence for stealing items from Walmart on Indiana 46 in Terre Haute.
Michael Orlando Branch, 44, appeared in Vigo Superior Court 1 on Friday where Judge Michael Eldred sentenced him to 18 months in prison for his Jan. 20 jury conviction on the class-D felony theft. The judge added 18 months for the aggravating circumstance of being a repeat offender.
The judge cited five printed pages of criminal charges against Branch as reason for the three-year term.
Branch was convicted by a six-person jury that deliberated only about five minutes before declaring him guilty of taking items from Walmart. That incident occurred while Branch was on release from the jail to seek medical treatment for an alleged heart condition.
Branch also has other pending criminal cases that include alleged thefts in April and September 2007; driving as a habitual traffic offender and false informing in January 2009; residential entry, battery, resisting law enforcement and possession of marijuana in August 2009; and domestic battery in November 2009.
The judge confirmed June 21 as a future date for Branch’s other criminal cases.
Branch told Eldred he intends to appeal his conviction and sentence in the Walmart theft case.
