Jailhouse Phone Recording Leads to Minnesota Man to Plead Guilty in Iowa Burglary
A jailhouse phone conversation recording has caused a Minnesota man to take a plea deal while two others await trial.
According to NWestIowa.com, 25-year-old Alejandro Christopher Vasquez of Rushmore, MN pleaded guilty on April 13 in Osceola County District Court to a charge of damage and trespass of property to avoid a felony charge of 3rd-degree burglary.
Vasquez was implicated in a burglary that happened on June 21, 2021, on an Osceola County residence northeast of Sibley. The home security system alerted authorities to the burglary who arrived on the scene and found Valasquez and 47-year-old Larry Kenneth Ober inside the home. Vasquez had a backpack full of items from the home and Ober's pickup was sitting outside.
A third man, Perry Evan Helms, was incarcerated in the Nobles County Jail in Worthington at the time of the incident. He was on the phone with Ober and was giving him and Vasquez instructions on how to deactivate the alarm system and what they could find to steal inside the home. The call was recorded.
The not-so-dynamic duo was not able to deactivate the alarm and was arrested because of it. They denied knowing anything about the alarm or the stolen items, but a Nobles County deputy called the Osceola Sheriff's office a few days later to tell investigators that he had a recording of the conversation, including the sound of the alarm going off in the background.
Ober and Helms, who apparently didn't know calls were recorded, and are set to go to trial on June 14.
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