An Ames man originally charged with eight counts of burglary and credit card fraud in Carroll County District Court was sentenced Monday after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. The charges against 20-year-old Austin Eugene Eslick include one class C felony, one class D felony and seven aggravated misdemeanors and stem from an investigation by the Carroll Police Department into a series of burglaries reported last November in Carroll. In accordance with the plea agreement, Eslick pled guilty to two felony burglary charges and credit card fraud with the remaining six charges dismissed. He was sentenced to two, five-year prison terms and a two-year term to be served concurrently. In exchange for his plea, the prison sentences were suspended and he was placed on probation to the Iowa Department of Correctional Services for a minimum of three years. He was also ordered to pay over $3,000 in fines, surcharges and court costs with victim restitution to be determined at a future hearing. Eslick and 20-year-old Kaela Rose Schultz of Carroll allegedly stole multiple items from the garage of an occupied home and unlocked vehicles from throughout town and attempted to use a stolen debit card at a Carroll retailer. Schultz’s trial for her involvement in the burglaries is scheduled to begin May 25.
