Man sentenced to 30 years in prison for 2023 burglary

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — A Randall County judge sentenced Ashton Wayne Simmons to 30 years in prison for Burglary of Habitation stemming from an incident from March 2023.

As previously reported by MyHighPlains.com, officers responded to the 4100 block of Julie Drive at around 4:07 a.m. on March 30, 2023, on a call about a burglary at a vacant home in the area and found Simmons and another individual, both of whom “refused to come out.”

Court documents detailed the crime is normally a second-degree felony that is punishable from two to 20 years in prison however, due to Simmons’s prior convictions and prison incarceration his charge was enhanced to the first-degree punishable of five years to 99 years or life in prison.

At sentencing, which Simmons elected to have decided by the Court, evidence was presented about Simmon’s numerous misdemeanor and felony convictions, including Evading Arrest or Detention with a Vehicle as well as Burglary of a Habitation.

Simmons elected to waive his 5th Amendment privilege and testified during the punishment phase, where he admitted to committing yet another burglary offense prior to this charge.

After hearing all the evidence and testimony, the judge sentenced Simmons to 30 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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