AUGUSTA — A Vienna man was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to committing numerous car break-ins that had residents in Augusta and other central Maine communities on edge earlier this year.

A tearful Gregory Roe, 38, who has been jailed twice previously for similar crimes, said he’s addicted to drugs and makes bad choices in order to feed his habit when he’s using them.

“Every day I regret my choices,” Roe said at his sentencing Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center. “I can only imagine how this is for my mother. And I deeply apologize, to the court, to my victims, to my son … Every day I feel terrible. I’m sorry.”

Roe, facing 23 counts related to the break-ins, pleaded guilty to nine charges in a deal with state prosecutors Tuesday. The plea deal capped his prison sentence at a maximum of three years, which is what he was sentenced to serve.

Prosecutor Jonathan Provisor, an assistant district attorney, said Roe has been sentenced twice previously for similar theft cases, serving 18 months and then 27 months. He received probation both times only to be arrested again, including his arrest earlier this year, when he was still on probation for a previous theft conviction. He said victims of Roe’s crimes didn’t just have their property taken; they had their sense of safety and security breached.

“Eighteen months and 27 months have not proven to be effective to curb the criminal tendencies he’s displayed,” Provisor said. “These are not victimless crimes. They involve very real people and very real possessions and very real breaches of their motor vehicles, which they feel are extensions of their homes.”

Roe’s mother, Darlene Roe, said when her son takes drugs he makes very poor decisions. She asked that instead of a long prison stint his sentence include allowing him to enter into a long-term drug rehabilitation program which she said has never been offered to him before. She said the last time he went to jail he made amends to each of his victims, sought out God, and worked 60 to 80 hours a week.

“He’s made the right choices when he’s not under the influence,” she said. “Putting somebody behind jail is not the answer for a person addicted to drugs.”

Roe’s attorney, Andrew Wright, noted Roe took full responsibility for his actions and has been struggling with addiction since he was 18 years old. He also said none of Roe’s crimes have ever involved any sort of violence, nor has he turned to dealing drugs to feed his habit.

Wright said society, especially in Kennebec County, is in throes of an opiate abuse epidemic, adding that he’s lost 21 clients to overdoses.

“We’re not going to incarcerate ourselves out of a drug epidemic, these people we’re losing are our families, friends, neighbors, or enemies, it’s indiscriminate in the social economic levels it hits,” Wright said. “In a perfect world we’d have more programs to help deal with this situation. In the end what we want is a healthy Greg and crime-free Greg, and a healthy society.”

However the judge noted the only times Roe has successfully maintained his sobriety in drug treatment programs has been when he was in prison. She thus sentenced him to three years, with no probation.

Roe pleaded guilty to six Class C theft charges, one Class C stealing drugs charge, and two Class D  burglary of a motor vehicle charges. Class C charges are felonies punishable by up to five years in prison, while Class D charges are misdemeanors punishable by less than a year imprisonment.

Early this year Augusta police were investigating numerous car burglaries in the city, 38 in Augusta in January and the first few days of February. All vehicles involved were unlocked and most of the items taken were change, cash, gift cards, sunglasses and other small items.

Police from Hallowell and Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office also reported similar crimes in their areas in that timeframe.

On Feb. 9, an Augusta officer went to all area banks to ask they report any suspicious activity, including making frequent deposits of change, an Augusta police affidavit said.

On Feb. 10 an employee of Bangor Savings Bank called Augusta police to report a man, Roe, who came in and made frequent deposits of change. Police located Roe walking and carrying a backpack and asked to search him, to which, police said, he agreed. They found multiple gift cards, scratch tickets, cigarette cartons, change, a set of earrings, multiple lighters, gloves, and sunglasses on him and, in the backpack, Pokemon cards, a large knife with a wooden handle, “numerous” jars of marijuana, 24 lighters, a tan Coach wristlet, multiple ski masks, a piece of notepad with gift card values written on it, and the prescription drug buprenorphine, which they said he did not have a prescription for.

Provisor said a facemask police found in their searches of Roe appeared to be the same worn by a suspect caught on surveillance footage, and his shoes had a similar tread pattern as footprints found at a crime scene.

Roe was on probation related to his 2021 conviction on a felony-level theft charge, according to the Maine Department of Corrections. In 2020, Roe was arrested in Winthrop and charged with several car burglaries there.

Provisor said many of the items stolen by Roe were recovered by police and returned to their owners.

He said the state opted to not seek restitution for the cash and change stolen by Roe, as it would be nearly impossible to determine how much he took from which victim.