Jasper
7-07-03, 09:26 AM
Joseph Muench has to be one of the strangest burglars Hamilton County has had in some time.
Muench pleaded guilty Thursday to burglary and was sent to prison for six months by Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Martin.
But Muench wasn't imprisoned for what he took during the burglary. He was imprisoned for what he left behind -- a picture of his penis.
Muench, who lived in a Cheviot apartment building, broke into the apartment of his 79-year-old female neighbor and left the picture.
"Among the things he left was a picture of that," the judge said.
"It was a very, very, very stupid mistake," Muench, 39, told the judge.
Muench, prosecutors said Thursday, previously showed the same picture to the neighbor and made sexual comments to her.
"He had done some work for her, and she started eliminating possibilities," said Scott Rubenstein, Muench's attorney.
"It was a possibility it was him, and the detectives went to talk to him.
"He made incriminating statements."
The neighbor became worried when she noticed paper jammed into the lock of her front door in March. When nothing was discovered missing, she dismissed it.
A few days later, though, she was moving furniture around and found under a chair a picture, a picture she told police she'd seen before.
Muench rejected a sentence that would have resulted in him serving some time in the Hamilton County Justice Center followed by one year of probation because, his attorney said, he didn't want the threat of a possible probation violation that could return him to jail hanging over his head.
Instead, Muench agreed to be sent to prison for six months.
"I just want to get this over with," Muench told the judge.
Martin could have sent him to prison for a maximum of 1½ years.
Muench pleaded guilty Thursday to burglary and was sent to prison for six months by Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Martin.
But Muench wasn't imprisoned for what he took during the burglary. He was imprisoned for what he left behind -- a picture of his penis.
Muench, who lived in a Cheviot apartment building, broke into the apartment of his 79-year-old female neighbor and left the picture.
"Among the things he left was a picture of that," the judge said.
"It was a very, very, very stupid mistake," Muench, 39, told the judge.
Muench, prosecutors said Thursday, previously showed the same picture to the neighbor and made sexual comments to her.
"He had done some work for her, and she started eliminating possibilities," said Scott Rubenstein, Muench's attorney.
"It was a possibility it was him, and the detectives went to talk to him.
"He made incriminating statements."
The neighbor became worried when she noticed paper jammed into the lock of her front door in March. When nothing was discovered missing, she dismissed it.
A few days later, though, she was moving furniture around and found under a chair a picture, a picture she told police she'd seen before.
Muench rejected a sentence that would have resulted in him serving some time in the Hamilton County Justice Center followed by one year of probation because, his attorney said, he didn't want the threat of a possible probation violation that could return him to jail hanging over his head.
Instead, Muench agreed to be sent to prison for six months.
"I just want to get this over with," Muench told the judge.
Martin could have sent him to prison for a maximum of 1½ years.