Yesterday, a little more than a year later, one of the men responsible for that break-in was convicted of 13 felonies and one misdemeanor in connection with multiple home burglaries in Spotsylvania County.

Michael Rodney Brewington Jr., 19, was about to finish high school last year when the string of break-ins began. A courtroom full of witnesses gathered yesterday to tell of their doors being kicked in and their electronics, jewelry and other possessions being stolen, either while they were asleep at night or away from home during the day.

All of the break-ins were reported between February and June of last year, some after Brewington was arrested March 5, then released on bond.

After a full day of testimony yesterday, Circuit Court Judge David H. Beck convicted Brewington of four counts of grand larceny, six counts of breaking and entering, conspiracy, grand larceny of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and petit larceny.

The judge dismissed six other charges for lack of evidence.

Much of the evidence linking Brewington to the crimes came from those who were originally his co-defendants and are either still waiting for their trials or have since pleaded guilty to various charges of their own.

Brewington's defense attorney Ricardo Rigual argued that the credibility of the teens who testified was faulty because of their criminal history and having originally denied affiliation with the crimes.

One of the original co-defendants even told Rigual that he had "lied then" when talking to deputies, but was not lying on the stand as he spoke of Brewington's criminal activities.

Beck also cited many of the teens' witness statements when giving reasons for Brewington's convictions.

Spotsylvania Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Shaia questioned many members of the families whose homes were broken into and neighbors who witnessed the teens, all described as young, black males breaking into homes.

"My wife called me really upset. She told me I had to come home from work right away," a Spotsylvania man said about his wife finding their house in disarray.