Accomplice in scheme to steal and sell guns pleads guilty

PORT CLINTON — A Port Clinton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in a scheme involving the resale of stolen firearms.Jonathan Torres, 32, pleaded guilty to four counts of complicity to breaking and entering after he accepted a plea agreement.In exchange for his guilty plea in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court, the prosecution dismissed 27 other charges. A portion of the plea agreement is confidential. A date for his sentencing has not yet been set.The charges against Torres stem from a spree of break-ins in Erie, Ottawa and Sandusky counties, where the alleged perpetrators targeted firearms and camping gear.Torres and four others — Dakota Siefke, 23; Zachary Neff, 22; Rosco Neff, 40; and Cody Brengartner, 25 — were indicted on multiple felonies for allegedly participating in the break-ins.Suspects committed about 40 burglaries in a nine-month period and allegedly gave stolen firearms to Ronald Royster, 49, who sold them to private buyers, according to Ottawa County prosecutor James VanEerten.Royster was indicted on multiple counts. Taylor Gobmeier, 19; Jacob Geiss, 40; and Darryl Trent, 56, were also indicted for being tangentially involved in the case.The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office put together all the separate investigations from the departments where each break-in took place.Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterJonathan Torres