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A habitual criminal from Chicago whose record stretches back four decades has been sentenced to six years in state prison after prosecutors said he broke into two businesses less than two days after his latest release from the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Vance Patton, 59, pleaded guilty to five burglaries, including two committed March 22, just 48 hours after he left Graham Correctional Center. Cook County Judge Terry Gallagher handed down concurrent sentences Monday, with an effective six-year term.
Patton will be eligible for parole March 17, 2028, under Illinois’ day-for-day credit system.
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Prosecutors say Patton, a 20-time convicted burglar, smashed a window at a storage business near 1900 West 95th Street, taking a single dollar from the cash register before crossing the street to Flippin Flavors, where he broke in again and stole five cans of soda. Officers arrested him nearby on charges of burglary.
The recent break-ins capped a career of nearly back-to-back property crimes dating back to the 1980s.
According to Illinois DOC records, Patton has been sentenced to prison 25 times, including 20 burglary convictions and others for vehicle theft and criminal damage to property.
This pattern of immediate reoffending is not new for Patton. In a 2011 Illinois Appellate Court decision reviewed by Fox News Digital, the court recounted that Patton committed another burglary just six days after being released from prison on Dec. 20, 2007.
According to court records, he was placed on a three-year term of mandatory supervised release after serving a burglary sentence, but on Dec. 26, 2007, he broke into another property and was arrested the following day.
The 2007 case highlights Patton’s longstanding pattern of recidivism, mirroring his more recent conduct in 2024, when prosecutors said he committed two burglaries less than 48 hours after his release from Graham Correctional Center.
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Court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show Patton’s latest release came March 20 from Graham Correctional Center, where he had been serving time for another burglary conviction.
Two days later, Beverly business owners arrived to find broken glass and merchandise missing.
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Patton has spent much of his adult life behind bars, cycling through the Cook County Jail and multiple Illinois prisons. Despite his extensive record, prosecutors said, the low dollar amounts in his recent crimes limited the charges to Class 2 felonies.
With credit for time served, Patton could serve about half his six-year term before release. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Chicago Police Department and the 19th Ward for comment.
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