(Poplar Bluff) – A former deputy with the Oregon County Sheriff’s department is headed to prison for seven years, after a guilty plea earlier this year on multiple charges of burglary and stealing.
Dophes “Gene” Barton of Alton entered a guilty plea in March. He was accused of breaking into a barn, a workshop, a bike shop, and a MoDOT maintenance shed in Oregon County, and stealing equipment and tools between August 13 and December 12, 2010. Many of the stolen items were later located at Barton’s house during the execution of a search warrant.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Oregon County Sheriff’s Office conducted the initial investigation.