NEWBERRY — William Russell Neal, 47, of Newberry, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after a jury found him guilty in the August 2011 burglary of a Hazel Street home.
Resident Circuit Judge Eugene Griffith handed down the sentence, Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo said.
Newberry Police Captain Kevin Atkins said Neal had been out of prison for less than a year when he committed the burglary. Atkins said Neal used force to break into the home and that the homeowner came home to find Neal in the house.
Atkins said Neal served between 20 and 25 years in prison after he went on a crime spree that included numerous burglaries and robberies in the 1980s. At that time, Neal was sentenced to life in prison but was released on parole.
Neal had been served with a notice of life without parole in the Newberry burglary case due to his lengthy criminal history, but due to a technicality in the way the notice was written, Neal could not be sentenced to life in prison on the burglary conviction.
Both Stumbo and Atkins said they are asking the S.C. Probation, Parole and Pardon Board to revoke Neal’s parole and sentence him to life in prison.
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