A San Juan Island man who’s mid-winter burglary spree came to an abrupt halt following a tip to authorities by a female friend was ordered to serve four months in jail under a sentence handed down Monday in San Juan County Superior Court.

On May 12, following a four-day trial in Superior Court, Frank Houlding Leeming III, 48, was convicted by a jury of three counts of felony burglary, one count of possession of stolen property, one count of possession of methamphetamine, a Class C felony, and of one count of possession of marijuana, a gross misdemeanor.

Leeming, who, as a first-time felony offender, qualified for sentencing below state standards, was ordered to serve a total of 120 days in jail and to pay $2,450 in fines and fees, as part of the sentence .

The standard sentencing range set by the state for the most serious of the crimes of which he was convicted, residential burglary, a Class B felony, is 3-9 months in jail. Leeming, the son of former Journal owner Frank Leeming, Sr., who’s ownership of the Journal spanned from the early 1980’s through the mid-90’s, will be required to pay restitution, the amount of which will be determined at a hearing in September.

According to court documents, authorities linked Leeming to a trio of break-ins and burglaries beginning in late December following the arrest of a female friend who offered information about his role in the alleged crimes.

According to prosecutors, Leeming ransacked the interior of an unoccupied house near the Friday Harbor airport and carted off various pieces of furniture and appliances, and in early January broke into a home on West Valley Road and hauled away numerous household belongings from there as well.

Leeming, arrested in mid-February, pleaded innocent at that time to a pair of felony burglary of which he was charged. Prosecutors later filed additional charges based on evidence amassed during an extended investigation by Sheriff Department’s detectives.

— Scott Rasmussen