The man authorities dubbed the Blues Hill Bandit will be going away for a long time as he entered guilty pleas to theft and burglary charges and was given 18 years behind bars.
The man, Robert Lynn Self Jr., 34, entered guilty pleas before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to charges of theft over $10,000, theft over $1,000, theft, and delivery of drugs. He was given a total of 18 years in prison to be served in addition to any other time he owes the state.
Investigators say Self was a suspect in a string of thefts and burglaries in the Blues Hill area of Warren County when they saw him driving in a stolen 2001 Dodge pickup. Self ran away from authorities near the Warren-DeKalb County line.
While able to get away that day, officers returned to his house on Lon Goff Road a few days later and found him hiding in his attic. A search netted numerous items that tied him to other burglaries in the area, which included trailer thefts which had plagued the area up until the time of his arrest.
He will have to serve at least 30 percent of his sentence before his first chance at parole, meaning he should serve a minimum of five years.