Walnut Hill Man Gets Four Years In Prison For Burglary

November 20, 2013

A Walnut Hill man has been sentenced to four years in state prison after burglarizing an Enon residence.

William Arbon Gilly, age 21 of South Pineville Road, was convicted of armed burglary of a dwelling, unarmed burglary of unoccupied structure, grand theft, and  theft of a firearm. He was sentenced as a youthful offender by Judge Jan Shackleford to four years in prison to be followed by two years probation. He was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.

According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Gilly drove to a single family home on Dan Hall Road, and twice over a three day period in March he entered the residence without permission. He was accused of taking firearms, jewelery, coins and electronics valued at approximately $6,000. Deputies said he also removed a utility trailer, a motor, boat, a boat trailer from a shed.

After the burglaries, Gilly utilized numerous online methods to sell the stolen items, deputies said.  When interviewed by deputies, “Gilly admitted to taking all of the property and indicated he needed money bad and was sorry for what he did,” according to an arrest report.

Gilly cooperated with deputies, the report states, allowing Sheriff’s investigators to recover almost all of the property that was stolen.

Comments

7 Responses to “Walnut Hill Man Gets Four Years In Prison For Burglary”

  1. perdido fisherman on November 23rd, 2013 3:35 pm

    He is VERY fortunate to get off with a 4 year sentence, he could have gotten mandatory 10 years to life with no gain time by the 10 20 life statute which his charge calls for according to the statute. stealing a gun during a burglary qualifies a person for the mandatory 10 20 life, the judge or prosecutor must have felt sorry for this guy to allow him to be tried as a juvenile, i hope he dont waste this opportunity he has been given.

  2. John on November 20th, 2013 8:34 am

    To memyself: Iam sure he was a very good boy but very good boys don’t steal. He made a mistake and now he has to pay for it. I would like to know this from you. If he had stolen $6000.00 from you how would you feel? If he had came to you for the money would you had given it to him? The Judges that let criminals off in my opinion are as bad as the criminals. Glad there are Judges that do this type of sentence. Maybe when Mr. Gilly gets out of prsion he can put his life back together and be there for his child he has no one to blame but himself. He made the mistake and now is paying for it. I wish him good luck.

  3. John on November 20th, 2013 8:22 am

    Gilly, if you need money try working for it instead of stealing. It’s hard enough to find jobs now and with this on your record this isn’t going to help.

  4. DL Hall on November 20th, 2013 8:03 am

    Why do some people feel sorry for the suspect & forget about the victim , oh … gee he had such a hard life ? GIVE ME A BREAK , I HAD A ROUGH LIFE TOO , SOMETIMES … BUT , I DON’T GO AROUND ROBBING & KILLING PEOPLE – Just my opinion okie dokie. I was always told “you made your bed , now go sleep on it” …

  5. William on November 20th, 2013 7:47 am

    >>I’m puzzled. Why was he sentenced as a youthful offender when he is 21?

    Mr. Gilly was sentenced Friday and turned 21 on Monday.

    According to the youthful offender statute, the status is available a person:

    “Who is found guilty of or who has tendered, and the court has accepted, a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to a crime that is, under the laws of this state, a felony if the offender is younger than 21 years of age at the time sentence is imposed…”

  6. Molino Wife on November 20th, 2013 7:38 am

    I’m puzzled. Why was he sentenced as a youthful offender when he is 21? Anyone know?

  7. memyselfi on November 20th, 2013 6:50 am

    This is so sad…cause he was a very boy just things happen to people that they have to steal. But he was cleaning cars and trying to provide for his child but made a bad decision that now is going to cost him 4years of his childs life. But i just dont understand the laws anymore cause this is someone who dont have a bad record but they are going to throw the book at him after he helped aleast get the stuff back. Look at the criminals on here everyday that they put them on probation and right back in the streets. God help him threw this hard time in his life. And to everyone that knows Billy knows that he is a good person and that will not change my mind about him.