No contest plea in home invasion case
ESCANABA — A 25-year-old Escanaba man — arrested last summer for home invasion and breaking into vehicles — pleaded no contest to second-degree home invasion during a hearing in Delta County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Harley Joseph Finnerty, currently lodged at the county jail, will be sentenced on the 15-year felony next month. The plea cancelled a jury trial that was scheduled for February in circuit court.
Finnerty was arrested on June 11 when Escanaba Public Safety officers were alerted about a suspect rummaging through a vehicle. While responding to the complaint, police found him inside someone else’s vehicle on North 19th Street.
Further investigation revealed additional vehicles in the area which had been entered and property was later reported missing from inside them, according to police.
In addition, Finnerty was accused of breaking into two homes — one on the 1400 block of North 20th Street and another on the 1500 block of North 18th Street. A computer tablet and a box of jewelry were stolen from one of the houses.
Finnerty was charged with the following: one count of second-degree home invasion, a 15-year felony; one count of attempted second-degree home invasion, a five-year felony; one count of breaking and entering a vehicle (a camper trailer) with damage to the vehicle, a five-year felony; and two counts of breaking and entering a vehicle (a pickup and a car) to steal property less than $200, each a 93-day misdemeanor.
During Wednesday’s plea hearing, Finnerty pleaded no contest to the second-degree home invasion charge. In exchange for the plea, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the other four counts, as well as a habitual offense notice attached to the charges.
In a separate case from last spring, Finnerty pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of controlled substance – possession of analogues (Clonazepam), a two-year felony, and pleaded guilty to one count of possession of marijuana, a one-year misdemeanor.
The charges stem from an April 23 incident in Escanaba involving stolen prescription medication.
The prosecution agreed to dismiss one count of larceny in a building, a four-year felony.
Finnerty remains in jail in lieu of 10 percent of a $150,000 bond. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30.