Trouble with the law is nothing new to the two Armstrong County men charged in the death of their alleged accomplice during last month's suspected drug rip-off scheme gone wrong in Adams Township.

At just 24-years-old each, Jacob M. Adams of Kittanning and McKinley W. Berry of Ford City both have lengthy rap sheets. Both also are felons.

Their extensive criminal records began when each was a teenager.

A month after turning 18 and just days after Christmas 2009, Adams began a burglary spree in western Armstrong County.

He was arrested for breaking into three homes, one in Worthington and two in West Kittanning, between Dec. 28 and 31.

Within the year, he would plead guilty to five burglaries. He was sentenced to one to two years in Armstrong County Jail.

Three years on probation followed his jail time.

But only months after being released from jail, Adams was arrested again in October 2012 for felony drug possession in Ford City. He was set free on his own recognizance.

Nine days later, he was picked up for felony drug possession in Kittanning. Once more, he was released on his own recognizance.

In May 2013, he pleaded guilty in each drug case to a lesser misdemeanor charge of possessing a controlled substance.

But while awaiting sentencing in the drug cases, he led Kittanning police on a chase June 29, 2013. He was charged with fleeing or eluding police and furnishing alcohol to a minor, both misdemeanors.

In August 2013, he was sentenced in both drug cases to a total of one to two years in county jail followed by a year of probation.

He was sentenced in March 2015 for the police chase to five months to two years in county jail. He was given another year on probation after his release.

Berry was only 18 when he was arrested in 2010 for a burglary in Manor Township, Armstrong County.

He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of trespass, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to three months to two years in the Armstrong County Jail, and served the minimum.

A month before that case, state police in Chambersburg had arrested Berry for possession of marijuana during a theft investigation.

He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge in Franklin County Court and was given probation.

Berry didn't stay out of trouble following those criminal cases in 2010. The next year, he was back in the Armstrong County Jail following his arrest for breaking into several vehicles in Manor Township, and for a theft in Ford City.

He pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts of theft from a vehicle in one case, and misdemeanor theft in the other.

More recently, he was convicted of misdemeanor theft in Armstrong County in 2013 and did county jail time for the crime.

In Allegheny County, he was convicted of charges for causing a four-vehicle, chain-reaction crash in 2012 that left him injured.

He pleaded guilty in the case to charges of causing an accident involving injury while not properly licensed and for authorized use of a vehicle. He was given a year of probation.

For Adams and Berry, their lone arrest in Butler County comes with the most serious charge — second-degree murder — that either has faced

State police allege the defendants on Jan. 22 traveled with Jason T. McIntyre, 24, of Kittanning to a home on Downieville Road with a plan to rob the tenants there of marijuana and money.

Adams stayed behind as the getaway driver while Berry and McIntyre, armed with handguns, went to the house, police said. Both tenants also were armed.

During a shootout, according to investigators, McIntyre was fatally shot. Adams and Berry got away but were soon arrested.

McIntyre also had a criminal record that included five drug cases.

Among his convictions in Armstrong County are felony possession in Ford City and misdemeanor possession in Kittanning, both in 2014.

In the felony case, he was sentenced last August to 16 to 32 months in Armstrong County Jail, and given credit for 359 days served.

McIntyre got out of jail on Dec. 18, 2015.

He also was admitted to the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program in 2012 for misdemeanor drug possession.

His convictions in Allegheny County are for misdemeanor drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs in 2014 in Monroeville and for misdemeanor possession in 2012 in Pittsburgh.