A New Castle Man was sentenced Thursday to serve 60 to 120 months in state prison and ordered to pay more than $56,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to 26 felony charges of burglary and four felony counts of prohibited possession of a firearm that were among 129 charges state police filed against him for a series of incidents that took place March 2, 2017.

Michael Paul Mason, 46, was sentenced to concurrently serve 36 to 120 months in prison for each of the burglary charges and 60 to 120 months concurrently for the firearms charges. Common Pleas Court Judge William Shaffer ordered Mason to serve both sentences concurrently for a total of 60 to 120 months of incarceration. The sentence included giving Mason credit for 89 days already served in jail.

A woman whose home Mason pleaded guilty to breaking into gave a victim impact statement saying: “On March 2, 2017, you broke into my home and robbed me.”

She said Mason stole her wedding ring and her deceased husband's wedding ring that she kept in a pendant. She said police told her they learned Mason sold her ring to someone who melted it down.

She said she had a security system installed in her home following the burglary, but is still afraid to be home alone sometimes.

“I feel better knowing I played a part in your sentence,” she said.

Shaffer ordered Mason to pay restitution to individual victims and insurance companies in each of the burglary cases to which he pleaded guilty. The amounts ranged from $200 to $7,422 and included $1,047 to the woman who gave the victim impact statement.

In exchange for pleading guilty, the remaining 99 charges, which include felony and misdemeanor charges of theft and criminal trespass and additional charges of prohibited possession of a firearm, were dismissed or withdrawn.