Man charged in lottery ticket thefts sentenced to drug court

LACONIA — A Gilford man charged with breaking into area convenience stores and stealing lottery tickets has been sentenced to Drug Court under the terms of a negotiated plea.

Marcus Brouillard, 25, of Sargent Place, in Gilford, pleaded guilty in Belknap Superior Court to three charges of burglary.

Judge Tina Nadeau sentenced Brouillard to three concurrent three- to six-year terms, with all the time suspended on condition of five years good behavior, and successful participation in Drug Court.

Drug Court — also called Recovery Court — is a treatment-based alternative to incarceration which makes extensive use of comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services, immediate sanctions, and incentives, with the goal of steering offenders into long-term recovery.

Brouillard was implicated in break-ins at the Gilford Square Market & Deli, Stafford Food & Beverage, in Tilton, and Budget Gas, and All Day Convenience & Kwik Stop, both in Laconia. On Tuesday he pleaded guilty to burglary at the Gilford, Tilton, and Budget Gas stores.

Also, as part of his sentence, Brouillard was ordered to make restitution totaling $5,289.29 to Gilford Square and its insurer, $1,219.80 to Stafford, and $904 to the New Hampshire Lottery Commission.

At the time of his arrest in August, Laconia police estimated $2,000 worth of lottery tickets were taken from Budget Gas, and $1,300 worth from Kwik Stop. However, Assistant Belknap County Attorney Whit Skinner said Stafford was the only store that was able to give a full accounting of how many lottery tickets had been stolen.

Under the terms of the negotiated plea, the Belknap County Attorney’s Office dropped charges of receiving stolen property, falsifying physical evidence, and resisting arrest. The receiving stolen property charge was in connection with items police recovered when he was arrested in Laconia, but that were stolen in a break-in in Carroll County, Skinner said.

In November, the grand jury indicted Brouillard for stealing lottery tickets and merchandise from the Kwik Stop on Union Avenue, in Laconia, and for having in his possession lottery tickets taken from Budget Gas Station, located on Court Street.

Brouillard was also indicted on three counts of burglary, and one count of falsifying evidence.