Serial burglar pleads guilty

A 63-year-old Patterson man who has been arrested numerous times for charges including burglary and theft since 1972 pleaded guilty Monday in the 16th Judicial District Court to seven different cases and received nine years hard labor.
James Joseph, 63, of Paradise Lane in Patterson, entered into pleas Monday in seven different cases dating back to 2011, Assistant District Attorney Anthony Saleme said. He was sentenced to nine years of hard labor for his most recent charge of simple burglary, on a multiple offender bill, Saleme said. That burglary occurred Oct. 30, 2013, at Fay Babin’s residence in Patterson.
According to the affidavit, Babin found Joseph inside her residence after she came home and saw Joseph walking down the hallway toward her bedroom. Babin said that Joseph had taken a small purse but dropped it as he was running from her residence, according to the affidavit.
In a December 2013 article in The Daily Review, Babin said she wanted to change how criminals seem to escape consequences for robbing law-abiding citizens of possessions and peace of mind. She began a campaign for signatures to her “Enough is Enough” petition.
The petition asked for justice for victims from police, the district attorney and judges to end what she calls “soft punishments” leading to the loss of belongings and security along with “loss of respect for the system, and, God forbid, the loss of our lives.”
Babin said today she is happy that the system worked and that justice prevailed, and said Joseph will be “out of circulation” as a nuisance to the community for at least nine years. “Maybe my nightmares will go away, and I can get some peace and serenity back in my home because it hasn’t been that way since he’s been coming in my house three different times,” Babin said.
Joseph burglarized Babin’s home on two occasions in July 2012 and had stolen items from her barn on six separate occasions, Babin said. “It’s a shame that a homeowner has to have a loaded gun to feel secure,” Babin said.
Due to Joseph being labeled a multiple offender, he cannot get out on good time and will serve the full nine years, Saleme said. St. Mary Parish Clerk of Court records show Joseph has been arrested 46 times by multiple jurisdictions since 1972.
Other charges he pleaded guilty to Monday included possession of stolen things under $1,500, attempted simple burglary, theft over $500, theft under $300, illegal possession of stolen things over $1,500 and unauthorized use of a moveable under $300, according to court documents. According to affidavits, those incidents occurred in Patterson, Bayou Vista and Morgan City.