A Salt Lake County man who stole numerous firearms from a local sports store here has been sentenced to prison.
At a hearing in 4th District Court on Monday, Judge Lynn W. Davis ordered Clark Gary Cornia, 23, to serve one to 15 years in prison for breaking into Park's Sportsman in Orem last year and stealing 13 handguns and two shotguns.The weapons were found after police searched Cornia's apartment and a storage unit in Sandy. Police also found a bulletproof vest.
Cornia was charged with theft and illegally possessing a weapon, both second-degree felonies, as well as burglary, a third-degree felony.
Cornia stole the guns while on probation for a previous charge. He is also accused of committing an armed robbery in Wyoming.
"This is a young man who was very heavily involved in doing illegal activity while he was on probation," prosecutor Claudia Laycock said. "I think the court's options in this matter are severely limited."
Laycock said that when Cornia was arrested, he had a police scanner in his car set to the Orem Police Department.
Public defender Christine Sagendorf said Cornia was influenced by some bad friends and was only a follower in the crime, even though he was the only person charged.
"He's not hopeless here," Sagendorf said. "He's got potential."
Cornia expressed remorse before his sentence was imposed.
"I'd like to fashion something other than prison, but he's going to prison in Wyoming," Davis said. "There's not any way he's not going to prison in Wyoming."
Davis made a recommendation that Cornia's prison sentences in Utah and Wyoming run concurrently. But Cornia has not yet been sentenced on his Wyoming charges.