He says he’s a teacher with a drug habit that – and that’s why 51-year-old Stephen “Cobin” O’Brien, a resident of Burrell Boom who says he teaches arts and crafts will have to spend the next 3 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to burglary. On Monday morning O’Brien was caught red handed inside the home of Erneldo Cruz as he tried to steal his DVD player.
O’Brien was caught pulling the DVD player through the window when he was caught. This afternoon, when O’Brien appeared before Senior Magistrate Dorothy Flowers, he decided not to waste the court’s time and pleaded guilty to burglary.
Burglary carries a jail term and Magistrate Flowers told O’Brien that she could not impose a fine if he had a previous conviction. Before he was sentenced, O’Brien told the court that for the last 4-5 years he had been single and then he fell in love. But according to O’Brien, the woman began giving him trouble and he began taking drugs.
He begged the court for leniency because that woman is now carrying his first child. But in his confession, he also revealed that he had a prior conviction – and with that the Magistrate had no choice but to issue a custodial sentence.
