ELLSWORTH – A Jonesboro man who pleaded guilty to a string of burglaries in two counties last fall was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in jail.

Shane Webber, 19, broke into businesses in Ellsworth and Dedham in order to equip himself with the tools he needed for stealing a safe from Mike’s Country Store on Water Street in Ellsworth, according to Hancock County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Larson. A hand dolly, moving straps, a truck and a van all were stolen to be used in the failed Oct. 31 burglary at Mike’s, Larson said.

Webber stole a truck from a Harrington man to use in the burglary and stole a $20,000 van from Louis Willey’s Ellsworth garage after police interrupted the break-in at the Water Street convenience store, Larson said. The van and the tools that were in it later were found submerged in a water-filled quarry in Jonesboro, he said.

The burglary at Mike’s was interrupted when Ellsworth police came across the stolen truck outside the convenience store and saw three males crawling out a nearby side window. Webber was charged after police caught one of the two juveniles who were helping him with the break-in, according to court documents.

Justice Thomas Delahanty II, sitting in Hancock County Superior Court, sentenced Webber to an overall term of five years with all but 18 months suspended. Included in the sentence is a four-year probation term he will have to serve when he is released from prison.

Delahanty said Webber’s actions did not merely represent a lapse in good judgment.

“Seldom have I seen a burglary with as much damage and involvement as I have seen here,” Delahanty said. “This is not a simple act of indiscretion.”

The sentence must serve as a deterrent to Webber and to others who would attempt the same thing, the judge said.

Eddie Povich, the owner of Mike’s, said the damage from the burglary extended beyond the physical damage to his property.

“It has caused two employees to quit,” Povich told Delahanty during the sentencing. One of the employees was Webber’s mother, who quit out of embarrassment, Povich said.

The other employee quit because the failed burglary and a previous break-in at the store committed by Webber in September made her feel unsafe, he said. An undetermined amount of money was taken from a cash box in the earlier burglary, according to court documents.

Povich said his burglary insurance was canceled and the premium on his new policy is 50 percent higher than the old one.

“What I’d like to hear from him is some remorse,” Povich said.

Webber told the store owner he was sorry for what he had done and that he wanted to turn his life around.

“I messed up,” Webber said. “I was young and I didn’t think.”

Webber said his family life has had a corrupting influence on him. When told by Delahanty his probation conditions would not allow him to associate with others on probation, Webber said that could interfere with his family life.

“Most of my family is on probation,” he told the judge.

According to Larson, a laptop computer stolen in Bar Harbor and several all-terrain vehicles stolen in Hancock County were at Webber’s home when police arrested him. Because other people were living with Webber at the time, Webber could not be linked directly to the stolen goods and was not charged, Larson said.

Delahanty also ordered Webber to pay restitution. Because Willey’s insurance covered the cost of the destroyed van and tools, the judge is requiring Webber to pay nearly $6,400 in total back to Povich and to Bruce Blackmer, who owns Lucerne Auto Sales in Dedham. Webber broke into Blackmer’s business on Oct. 28 and again three days later to steal the hand dolly and other tools for use in the Mike’s burglary, Larson said.

Webber’s attorney, Frank Cassidy of Franklin, told Delahanty his client’s remorse is sincere.

“He realizes he needs to change his life, and he plans to do that,” Cassidy said.

“I hope he does,” Larson said after the sentencing. “It will be a difficult thing for Shane to turn his life around.”