A second defendant has received a long sentence Tuesday for a home burglary in Fulton County.
The home? Atlanta hero and baseball great Hank Aaron’s.
Superior Court Judge Shawn LaGrua sentenced 23-year-old Amir Coleman to 35 years — ten to serve in prison and 25 on probation for the burglary.
The first defendant, 24-year-old Isiah Slaton, received a 50-year sentence Monday. Judge LaGrua sentenced Slation to eight years to serve in prison and 42 years on probation for stealing, among other objects, Aaron’s baseball rings destined for the Hall of Fame.
In his victim impact statement, Aaron told how he felt “violated” by the crime and how the items that were stolen from him were simply “priceless.”
Slaton pleaded guilty Monday to burglary and theft on the eve of a trial with two other men with whom he was indicted for allegedly ransacking the Aaron house on July 14, 2013. The loot also included Aaron’s two BMWs and considerable jewelry, District Attorney Paul Howard announced in a news release.
Hank and Billye Aaron were in New York for the All-Star Game when burglars disabled the alarm system and entered their southwest Atlanta home.
The thieves had disabled the alarm system, but they were unable to disengage the BMWs’ “LoJack” systems and dumped one of the cars about a mile from the home and the other was found in Cobb County. Investigators were able to lift fingerprints from at least one car.
Investigators made an arrest within three weeks of the break-in.
The case against the third man accused in the burglary, Edward Buford, is still pending.
One of Howard’s top prosecutors, Deputy District Attorney Shondeana Morris is overseeing the case.
As an Atlanta Brave, Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record of 714 career home runs on April 8, 1974. He hit his 755th and final home run on July 20, 1976, a home run record that stood for almost three decades.
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