A defense lawyer for a man facing burglary charges is asking for the second time this year for prosecutors to honor a previous agreement reached between the two sides in the case.

Matthew J. Bowser, 30, is faces charges for a burglary last summer during which goods worth $40,000 were stolen. In February, Bowser's lawyer, Joseph Hudak, asked Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer to enforce an agreement Hudak said he reached with prosecutors at Bowser's preliminary hearing.

Hudak made the same request Friday, citing a U.S. Supreme Court case to support his argument. He told Shaffer that former Assistant District Attorney Russ Karl promised to recommend Bowser to the accelerated rehabilitative disposition, an alternative sentence for first-time offenders who aren't facing violent charges.

But Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope countered that his office is under no obligation to stick to the recommendation. Shaffer said he would consider both sides before he makes a decision.

“He fulfilled his side of the promise by cooperating with police,” Hudak said. “Now we get here, Russ Karl is no longer with the District Attorney... and Mark is a little more difficult and doesn't want to give ARD.”

Karl retired from the prosecutor's office late last year.

But Lope said no official agreement was reached.

“We have a custom in Butler, ARD isn't offered during a preliminary hearing,” Lope said. “All (Karl) did was recommend ARD, it's not a firm offer.” Lope said that he isn't prepared to make that offer.

The ARD program allows defendants to undergo probation and government supervision for a period of time — and if they complete the program, their records are wiped clean, a result that Hudak hopes to obtain for his client.

“My client could be without any convictions,” Hudak said.

Entering into the program is not an admission of guilt.

“The United States Supreme Court says you're stuck with it,” Hudak said, noting that in the Supreme Court case that he cited the decision was made to keep an original plea deal that was reached. Hudak said the case was nearly identical because it involved a plea deal that was originally reached with a defendant but was later scrapped by the prosecutors. But the Supreme Court, Hudak said, decided that the original deal must be honored.

Hudak also noted that Bowser not only cooperated with investigating offers, but he also completed a rehabilitation program.

“Our office doesn't back out of agreements,” Lope said. “We just don't have one in this case.”

State police allege Bowser and his co-defendants — Justin W. Ealy, 33, of Summit Township, and Leroy D. Bowser Jr., 52, of Emlenton — targeted a trucking company on Station Road in Mercer Township in July 2019.

Authorities said that among the estimated $40,000 in items stolen from the garage was a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a Yamaha all-terrain vehicle, a Stihl concrete saw and other property.

Leroy Bowser's case remains at the preliminary level because he is still wanted on an arrest warrant in the case. Ealy's case continues in court, and he is out on a $25,000 bond.