Chillicothe man gets prison in burglary case

John Bryon Casey, 47, of Chillicothe, was sentenced to two years in state jail for burglary of a building following his open plea of guilty to Wilbarger District Court.
On April 11, 2021, at around 2 a.m., a Vernon police officer was on routine patrol when he noticed a pickup truck backed up to a building on Wilbarger Street owned by Jones Machine Shop. Officers located a cut padlock at the front of the building. In the pick-up truck bed, officers located several pieces of metal taken from inside the building along with some bolt cutters.
John Bryon Casey was found inside the building and claimed that he had permission from someone named “Paul Jones” to collect the scrap metal. The actual building owner, Don Jones, told authorities that most of the metal in the building was used for mining equipment and that Casey did not have permission to be there. Casey entered an open plea of guilty to District Judge Dan Mike Bird and requested a probated sentence. Following a brief hearing, Judge Bird sentenced Casey to the maximum sentence of two years in state jail.
Casey had prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was represented by Randall Walker of Wichita Falls.