Trespassing nets 30-day sentence

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — James M. Gillen, a 32-year-old laid-off Warren firefighter, has been sentenced to seven days in Trumbull County Jail and 23 days in a Warren alternative jail for trespassing into a neighbor’s home.

Gillen, who was laid off Jan. 1 with 10 other Warren firefighters, pleaded no contest Monday to the fourth-degree misdemeanor of criminal trespass before Acting Judge Dan Gerin in Warren Municipal Court.

Judge Gerin found Gillen guilty and gave him the maximum amount of incarceration allowable for a fourth-degree misdemeanor. Fees and court costs totaled $461.

Police said Gillen walked into a neighbor’s home on Atlantic Street about 12:30 a.m. April 9 without permission.

Police originally charged Gillen with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but a county grand jury remanded the case back to municipal court on the misdemeanor charge.

Court officials said 23 days of Gillen’s incarceration will be served in the Warren Alternative Sentencing Program, in which offenders are kept in the former Warren City Jail and allowed to leave only if they have work or treatment appointments.