29-year-old habitual offender gets life in prison for South MS thefts
A habitual criminal from Saucier still awaiting trial in the kidnapping and shooting of a Mississippi law enforcement officer has been sentenced to life in prison as a habitual offender for burglary and grand larceny convictions, the Harrison County District Attorney’s Office said in a release.
Judge Christopher Schmidt sentenced Logan Allan D’Elena, 29, after a jury convicted him last week following a two-day trial on the two charges.
D’Elena is also among the suspects still awaiting trial on kidnapping and aggravated assault charges in the January 2023 kidnapping and assault of a former Warren County deputy. The deputy was later found alive in South Mississippi. The deputy had been shot and beaten, according to authorities.
In the burglary and grand larceny cases from last week in Gulfport, a jury found D’Elena responsible for the Dec. 15, 2022, theft of farm equipment and firearms from a home and property on Turan Road In Harrison County.
In that case, a neighbor called 911 to report the theft after confirming with the property owner that he had not just sold some farm equipment. The neighbor called after he spotted D’Elena return to the property in a Ford F-150 and leave with the victim’s utility trailer loaded with stolen equipment.
According to the authorities, D’Elena stole a forestry mulcher, a stump grinder and firearms from the victim.
During the investigation, authorities determined that D’Elena had also pried a back door open at the home and busted a window in a back bedroom to get inside.
Inside, D’Elena ransacked the home and used a gas-powered saw to open a safe he found in a bedroom, authorities said.
Over the course of the investigation, Harrison County authorities learned that D’Elena had first stopped by the property the morning of the theft, asking if any of the farm equipment was for sale. He returned after he saw the property owner leave later that day.
Ultimately, investigators determined that D’Elena had traded the mulcher and grinder for a red Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle and cash, then abandoned the utility trailer just over a mile from the victim’s property.
“The utility trailer, forestry mulcher, and stump grinder were returned to the victim,” Harrison County Assistant District Attorney Jasmine Magee said in the release. “However, the stolen firearms were never recovered.”
Magee prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Katherine Simmerman.
At last week’s trial, the prosecutors presented evidence that D’Elena was a habitual criminal, citing three prior felony convictions for burglary, which are a crime of violence eligible in the state for a habitual offender prosecution.
D’Elena is already serving another 25-year sentence for the prior convictions.
