Iowa City man sentenced to 35 years for string of burglaries

An Iowa City man was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison for a string of burglaries and thefts at businesses in town that started in 2021 and continued through January.

Joshua Harley Kelley, 40, previously pleaded in Johnson County District Court to six felony charges: ongoing criminal conduct; third-degree burglary; possession of a controlled substance — third or subsequent offense; second-degree theft; first-degree criminal mischief; and offense of alteration of a vehicle identification number. He also pleaded to fourth-degree theft, a serious misdemeanor.

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Last Friday, 6th Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill ran two of the charges consecutively and others concurrently for a total of 35 years.

According to a criminal complaint, Kelley burglarized or stole items in more than one incident from McComas Lacina Construction and multiple times from Pace Properties, Rogers Shoes, Brandt Heating & Air Conditioning, Pyramid Services, Carousel Motors, Billion Auto, Ace Hardware and AM Management.

The combined property loss from the businesses was over $100,000, the complaint stated. During the investigation, Iowa City police obtained a search warrant for Kelley’s storage unit and found the stolen property from all the burglaries or thefts, except a van stolen from Billion Auto, which was recovered at a different location, according to the complaint.

According to a search warrant affidavit, police used GPS devices on Kelley’s vehicles to track his movements to determine where he was committing the crimes. They also obtained surveillance video from the businesses and other locations.

Kelley also was charged in 2021 with burglary by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for multiple incidents at Red Dot Storage, the affidavit stated.

Kelley, who was unemployed, was selling or trading the stolen property in this case for financial gain and to support himself, according to the complaint.

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