Prosecutors allege that Quinton B. Richburg tried to break into the Pottsville Free Public Library twice in 2010, but now will have to prove that in court after a Schuylkill County judge on Wednesday rejected the plea agreement they had with the defendant.
Richburg, 25, of York, told President Judge William E. Baldwin that he did not enter the library on April 21, 2010, as Pottsville police have charged.
"I never entered the building. I just broke a window," Richburg told Baldwin. "My intention was not to burglarize anything."
That caused Baldwin to reject the agreement, under which Richburg would have pleaded guilty to two counts of institutional vandalism and one of criminal trespass and prosecutors would have withdrawn two counts of attempted burglary.
"I'm not going to accept the plea if you're saying you didn't do it," Baldwin said.
Then, Richburg said he would enter a plea of no contest to the institutional vandalism and criminal trespass charges. Under that plea, he would not admit committing the crimes but would offer no defense to them, admit that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and agree to be sentenced as if he had pleaded or been found guilty.
"I was drunk. I don't recall doing it," he said.
However, he then claimed he had not agreed to the proposed prison sentence of six to 23 months, and Baldwin rejected the agreement in total, meaning Richburg will be tried on all five charges. The next time the case could be tried is during the February 2013 criminal court term.
City police filed charges in each case.
In the first, they allege that on April 21, 2010, Richburg broke the glass on a rear entrance door to get into the library building at 215 W. Market St. Once inside, Richburg activated an intruder alarm and fled, police said.
In the second, they allege that on July 29, 2010, Richburg used pieces of brick and concrete to break a window to get in but again set off the audible alarm and fled.Defendant: Quinton B. Richburg
Age: 25
Residence: York
Charges: Two counts each of attempted burglary and institutional vandalism and one of criminal trespass