A local man who was convicted in DeKalb County Criminal Court on a burglary charge Wednesday was given a 15-year sentence Thursday as a career offender by Judge Gary McKenzie.

David Michael Petty, 54, was being sentenced for a July 2014 break in when the judge ruled that his seven felony convictions, some dating back to 1980, qualified him as a career offender. His convictions included three kidnappings, an assault with intent to commit a felony, and a grand larceny.

McKenzie gave Petty the maximum sentence allowed by law, a fifteen-year term for aggravated burglary as a career offender. Another twelve-year sentence was handed down for theft of property over $1,000 as a career offender. The terms were merged as one fifteen-year term, and Petty must serve at least 60 percent before he is eligible for parole.

After deliberating for less than an hour on Wednesday, a jury of six men and six women found Petty guilty of aggravated burglary and theft of property over $1,000.

In asking the court to sentence Petty as a career offender, Assistant District Attorney General Stephanie Johnson said that 35 years of misconduct spanning several Tennessee counties merited the sentence.

Petty was most recently charged with aggravated burglary and theft of property over $1,000. Sheriff Ray said at the time of his arrest that on Tuesday, July 8 Petty broke into a residence on Man Hill Road on July 8, 2014, and stole jewelry which he later pawned at a local jewelry store and at a pawn shop in Warren County. The case was investigated by a criminal detective of the sheriff’s department.

Anthony Lynn Colwell, 44, a co-defendant in the case, pled guilty in July to aggravated burglary, receiving an 11-year term to serve at 45 percent before he is eligible for parole. His sentence will run concurrently with a case in Warren County.

Petty maintained that while he sold the items, he did not participate in the burglary. A motion for a new trial in the case will be heard on March 21.