Koetz pleads guilty to burglary and theft felonies

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PRINCETON — Kevin Koetz, 30, of Princeton pleaded guilty July 3 to four counts of the Class 2 felony of burglary and to two counts of the Class 3 felony of theft. He was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison and was ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined.

During spring 2008, several Princeton residents and several Bureau County residents reported to the Princeton Police Department and Bureau County Sheriff’s Office that large tools and off-road motor vehicles were taken from their premises. A joint investigation by the Bureau County Sheriff’s Office and Princeton Police Department with the assistance of the Ottawa Police Department and LaSalle County Sheriff’s Department resulted in the arrest of Koetz for felony theft on April 7.

Koetz was subsequently indicted by the Bureau County Grand Jury for four counts of burglary and two counts of theft. He was accused of stealing electrical wire from the city of Princeton and an aluminum siding brake from a Princeton residence and burglarizing a Princeton garage taking an air compressor, burglarizing two rural Bureau County buildings and removing off-road vehicles and burglarizing a rural Bureau County building and taking electrical wire off a utility truck.

On June 11, a Princeton resident reported to the Princeton Police Department that a large amount of electrical wire appeared to be hidden in the bushes on their property. After the police examined the wire, they determined that it had been stolen from the City of Princeton Electrical Department. The wire was kept under surveillance by police until Koetz returned that afternoon and began loading the wire into his vehicle. At that time, Koetz was arrested. He had been released from the Bureau County Jail on June 8 after posting 10 percent of a $35,000 bond for four counts of burglary and two counts of felony theft.

On July 10, Koetz pleaded guilty to felony theft. He was sentenced to serve two and one-half years in prison. Because he was out on bond when he committed the offense, the sentence was required to be served consecutive to the 10 years sentence imposed for the four counts of burglary and two counts of theft.

Koetz was previously convicted of a narcotics offense in LaSalle County in 2000, possession of a stolen motor vehicle in Bureau County in 2005, forgery in LaSalle County in 2005 and felony retail theft in Will County in 2006.