11-time felon dodges life sentence for wallet theft at Walmart
If Dannie J. Sims of Albion had decided to go to trial on charges of shoplifting and stealing a wallet, the prosecutor said that, upon conviction, he would seek life imprisonment for Sims as a persistent felon.
Sims pleaded guilty, thus avoiding the possibility of a life term. It was the 11th felony of his career.
Sims, 61, of West Academy Street, admitted to fourth-degree grand larceny for stealing a woman's wallet and shoplifting at the Lockport Walmart on Dec. 14, Niagara County Assistant District Attorney John N. Philipps Jr. said.
In March, Sims was sent to state prison for two to four years by a judge in Genesee County for failing in a court-supervised drug treatment program after he pleaded guilty there to grand larceny. It was his sixth trip to state prison since 1974, according to the state prison website.
State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr. could add as much as four years to Sims' current sentence when he returns to court Aug. 8.
The plea offer required Sims to repay $110 to the woman whose wallet and debit card were stolen, and $54.60 to Walmart.
Sims' prior prison resume includes serving three years for a 1974 Brooklyn robbery; another three years, starting in 1978, for two more robberies in Brooklyn; eight years, starting in 1982, on Manhattan convictions for sodomy, assault, escape and weapons possession; three years for a pair of Monroe County robberies in 2003; and two years for a pair of Monroe County grand larceny convictions in 2010.
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