MONTICELLO, NY — Philip Bellows, 29, of Loch Sheldrake, was sentenced on Wednesday, July 27, to 10 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision by Sullivan County Court Judge Frank J. Labuda for his role in the burglary of a Fallsburg home and possession of a handgun stolen from that home.

Sullivan County District Attorney Jim Farrell said that Bellows pled guilty to burglary and criminal possession of a weapon, both violent felonies, and admitted to breaking into a home on Astor Road in the Town of Fallsburg on February 1. He admitted stealing various items including jewelry, a .40 caliber handgun and ammunition for the handgun.

Farrell said that the crime was solved when Town of Fallsburg police detectives, who were investigating the burglary, saw Adam Awny, Bellow’s co-defendant, walking near Woodland Townhouses holding a Kindle .

Two Kindles had been stolen from the home, and further investigation led to the arrest of both Awny and Bellows and the recovery of the handgun, the ammunition, a safe, various personal papers, all of which had also been stolen from the home.

Detectives also found that the defendants had sold some of the stolen jewelry to a pawn shop and that jewelry was recovered. Bellows was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,250 as part of his sentence. Awny’s case is pending sentencing.