(Rock Rapids)– One of the two men accused in a courthouse break-in in Rock Rapids last December has been sentenced.
Authorities say 39-year-old Brandon High Pipe of Rapid City, South Dakota, and 18-year-old Luciano Sanchez of Denver, Colorado, faced six charges each in connection with the incident including First-degree criminal mischief, two counts of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony, third-degree burglary, reckless use of fire, explosives, or destructive devices and willful disturbance. The charges stem from a December 16, 2025, burglary at the Lyon County Courthouse in Rock Rapids.
Court records indicate High Pipe pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of third-degree burglary. Charges of reckless use of fire, explosives, or destructive devices; conspiracy to commit non-forcible felony; and willful disturbance were dismissed as part of the plea bargain. On the criminal mischief charge, he was sentenced to a ten-year prison term. On each of the remaining counts of third-degree burglary, he was sentenced to five years. He is to serve the terms consecutively, for a twenty-year prison term, with credit for time served.
Sanchez is set to change his plea via a Zoom meeting scheduled for September 23rd, presumably to accept a plea bargain. A trial in his case had been scheduled for next Tuesday.
After an alleged jail assault, Sanchez was also charged with assault by inmate with bodily fluids or secretions, a class D felony. The Zoom plea hearing is on both of his cases.
(Courtesy Community First Broadcasting station KSOU in Sioux Center)
