Samuel Jamison, 41, 5300 block of Claxton Street, pleaded guilty to six counts of burglary, two of robbery, two of stealing and one of attempted burglary.
Jamison tricked his way into the houses and either forcibly grabbed cash from the residents or took it from somewhere in the house. The victims included men and women, ranging from 72 to 91 years old.
Jamison said he took the money to feed a drug habit and was high both during the crimes and when he confessed to police.
He told officers he was not trying to hurt or scare anyone and targeted the elderly because he thought they would be more trusting and more likely to believe the ruse, Assistant Circuit Attorney Erin Granger said in court.
Granger asked Circuit Judge Philip Heagney to impose a 20-year term.
Assistant Public Defender Cynthia Hermann said that Jamison was a good-hearted, kind and gentle man "most of the time," but that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and self-medicates with crack cocaine. She asked for both long-term drug treatment and mental health treatment.
Jamison apologized to his victims and asked Heagney for a second chance, but it was already his second case in front of the judge this year. Jamison had pleaded guilty earlier in the year to a burglary and was on probation.
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