HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A 51-year-old Maize man who was arrested in Reno County on four felony charges including burglary of a vehicle and felony flee and elude entered guilty pleas to those two charges Friday morning. Judge Tim Chambers then sentenced Gilford Sherley Jr. to 1-year and three months.
In addition to the burglary and flee and elude crimes, Sherley was also charged with interference with law enforcement and criminal possession of a fire arm, but the state dropped those charges as part of a plea agreement.
The case goes back to Jan. 16, 2012, when a Reno County Sheriff deputy was dispatched to Arlington and Victory Roads for the report of an auto burglary which had just taken place.
Two males had entered the vehicle and took a shotgun. They then left northbound on Victory in a blue and gray suburban. A Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper had located a vehicle that matched the suspect vehicle and tried to stop it. The vehicle fled from the trooper entering a field. The chase continued into Sedgwick County and ended in the area of 37 th Street North and Maize Road, in the city of Maize.
The two occupants then fled on foot and were later located in the area hiding. Sherley was driving the vehicle and Donald Cook was the passenger.
Cook has already been sentenced for this case as well as others in Sedgwick County.
The sentence for Gilbert will run consecutive to the sentence he’s serving for burglary convictions in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
Judge Chambers noted that Sherley has been in and out of prison for years and has had 15 parole violations during that time.
Sherley does have some serious convictions for robbery, kidnapping and drugs out of Wyandotte County.