BEATRICE – A Gage County District Judge has rejected a plea for probation, sentencing a Lincoln man to Nebraska prison for issuing a bad check and for failure to appear…both felonies.


60-year-old Craig Rose will serve 18 months in prison and a year of supervision when he gets out. Saying Rose has a thirty-year history of stealing from people, District Judge Rick Schreiner told the defendant despite hard times that included living out of a car and being partly disabled….his theft record can’t be ignored.


"You told me over the course of this case that you fully intended to pay back restitution...and I think the agreement was that if you paid that, the state may dismiss. You didn't pay a single dime. This case has been pending 518 days. Had you simply paid $8.43 cents a day...it would have been paid by now. But, even between the time of entry of plea and sentencing, you have not paid a dime. I don't have any faith that you would pay a dime during probation. I'm sorry you're disabled...and if you're criminal history was different, I might be just a little more sympathetic to that. But, you have a criminal history that indicates to me that you're not someone who's fallen on hard times......you're a thief."


As part of the sentence, the judge ordered Rose to pay restitution of $4,371 to Beatrice Concrete Company, through the Gage County Attorney’s Office. Schreiner said Rose can use post-release supervision as a means of beginning to make payments.


Rose was arrested for issuing four checks to Beatrice Concrete company in June of 2019, knowing he had insufficient funds.