25 strikes and you’re out. York Co. man got $120 for pawned saw, then 7 years prison

Samuel Shane Bush had 25 chances to stop stealing, South Carolina police and prosecutors say.

He didn’t.

So now Bush will spend seven years in prison after pawning a saw for $120.

Bush, 47, of York was sentenced Wednesday by visiting Circuit Court Judge Alex Kinlaw to seven years after pleading guilty to obtaining property by false pretenses, said 16th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Matthew Hogge.

York County Sheriff’s Office Det. Walter Beck said Bush is a “career thief.”

“Mr. Bush has re-offended time after time after time,” Beck said. “This is not a young kid who made a stupid decision. This is a person who 25 times before was convicted of stealing things that didn’t belong to him.”

Bush’s property crimes date back two decades and include 25 property crime convictions for burglary, receiving stolen goods, grand larceny, forgery and financial card fraud, Hogge said.

Property enhancement sentencing guidelines in South Carolina allow judges to sentence repeat offenders after two convictions to as much as 10 years in prison.

Bush pleaded guilty under an Alford plea, where he accepts the punishment of a guilty plea without admitting guilt. Bush was set to start a trial on the charges before pleading guilty, court records show.